Students Center Stage At Utah Shakespeare Festival

If you've seen some extra school busses around town the last couple of day, you might be wondering of there is some kind of a school competition going on. Well, you would be right in making that assumption, but the competition going on now will not have players heading to courts, stadiums, diamonds or tracks.

The 47^th annual Shakespeare Competition is going on through Saturday hosted by the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Students from as young as third graders up to high school seniors from all over the country have come to Cedar City to show off their skills.

Participants will compete in acting, dance, musical, technical and theatre competitions. But the tree day event is more that competition. Students will be able to participate in workshops where they can hone their skills under the direction of the professionals of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

And while here, the students will also have the opportunity to attend one of the performances of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

In the acting competition, participants are limited to text from the plays of William Shakespeare or from the sonnets and poems of the bard.

Dance competitors must use choreography inspired by text or thematic subjects from Shakespeare, but all dance genres are welcome.

Those in the music competition are encouraged to explore and use the music of the era when Shakespeare was alive.

Those in the tech competition will show their skills in audio, lighting, props, carpentry, costumes, stage management, rigging and hair and make up.

On the final day of the competition, showcases will be held in four different venues with performances in acting, dance and music.

All of the Utah Shakespeare Competition is sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association.

There is more than awards at stake during the competition. High school seniors will also have the opportunity to audition for several Utah university and college dance programs which includes the possibility of getting a scholarship to one of those institutions.

Those who participate in the Utah Shakespeare Competition, may find that this would not be their only time on stage here in Cedar City. Three members of the 2023 company of the Utah Shakespeare Festival had their first experience in Cedar City at the Utah Shakespeare Competition.