News – November 7, 2023
We are pleased to announce the kick-off of the ESU's National Shakespeare Competition! Schools in our region may enter now, giving students the opportunity to compete in the Lexington Branch Competition. The winner of the branch competition will travel to NYC to compete in the national finals at Lincoln Center!
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(l-r) Eric Cheatham, Cece Bernard and Nina Alabanza
Appomattox Christian Academy student Eric Cheatham won first place at the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition Lexington Branch contest on January 25, 2020. Cheatham, a student of teacher April Bilton, performed King Richard's monologue from Richard II, Act III, scene ii, as well as Sonnet 81. He will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City along with more than 50 other contestants from around the country to participate in the ESU National Shakespeare Competition at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York on April 27, 2020.
Nina Alabanza from Harrisonburg High School earned second place, performing Shylock's monologue from The Merchant of Venice, Act III, scene i, and Sonnet 23. Third place winner Cece Bernard from Staunton High School played the part of King Richard from Richard II, Act IV, scene i, and recited Sonnet 136. All the winners were awarded partial scholarships to attend the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp.
Competitors were judged on their understanding of their selected texts and on their ability to communicate that understanding to the audience. Judges for the Branch Competition were Miriam Donald Burrows, Brandon Carter and Zoe Speas, all members or former members of the American Shakespeare Center Resident Company. The competition was coordinated by ESU Lexington members Suzanne Rice, Lisa Tracy and Dee Joyce-Hayes.
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Lexington Branch members enjoyed an indoor garden party – thanks to the rain – hosted by member Dave Perry-Miller on May 11. Perry-Miller's home in Staunton, Waverly Hill, was built in 1929 in the Georgian Revival style. Waverly Hill is on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a Virginia Historic Landmark. Perry-Miller recently restored the home, with the assistance of architect Madison Spencer, of Madison Spencer Architects, who spoke to the group about the project. Spencer traced the origins of Georgian Revival architecture beginning with the Greeks and Romans through the construction of Waverly Hill in 1929. Despite the rain, members enjoyed the lecture, a delightful party, and lovely views of the grounds from inside the house.
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Kate Cummings, from Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia, won first place at the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition Lexington Branch contest on January 26, 2019. Her winning performance included Juliet's monologue from Romeo and Juliet, Act III, scene ii, and Sonnet 72. Miss Cummings is a student of teachers Ken Gibson and Holli Wolter. She will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City along with contestants from around the country to participate in the ESU National Shakespeare Competition in April.
Olivia Catherine Gorra from the Stuart Hall School in Staunton earned second place, performing Desdemona's monologue from Othello, Act IV, scene ii, and Sonnet 121. Mary Margaret Elam from Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton was awarded third place. She performed Viola's monologue from Twelfth Night, Act II, scene ii, and Sonnet 65. First, second and third place winners were all awarded scholarships to attend the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp. Competitors were judged on their understanding of their selected texts and on their ability to communicate that understanding to the audience. Judges for the Branch Competition were Shunté Lofton, Katie Little and Benjamin Reed.
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VPO Scholars Nathan Royce and Allison Jue spoke at the Opening Meeting of the Lexington Branch at Kendall on October 10, 2018. The Lexington Branch provided scholarships to Royce, from the Virginia Military Institute and Jue, from Washington & Lee University, to attend the Virginia Program at Oxford, a six-week summer program at Oxford University. Royce and Jue spoke enthusiastically of the daily lectures and weekly tutorials they attended, as well as their travels to other parts of the United Kingdom.
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Lexington Branch members enjoyed a night of poetry, bagpipes, haggis and a "wee dram" as part of the Robert Burns Night held on March 4, 2018 at VMI's Moody Hall. Speaker Les Strachan spoke on "Robert Burns, Scotland's Poet", quoting extensively from the poet's work. The haggis, generously provided by ESU members Lyn and Carol Dent, was sampled by many and even enjoyed by some!
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Lexington Branch Shakespeare Competition participants, January 20, 2018
Dianelys Mustelier-Mayeta, from Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Virginia, won first place at the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition Lexington Branch contest on January 20, 2018. Mustelier-Mayeta, a student of teachers Cecille Deason and Michael Villacrusis, performed Parolles monologue from All's Well That Ends Well, Act IV, scene i, as well as Sonnet 127. She will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City along with 55 other contestants from around the country to participate in the ESU National Shakespeare Competition in April.
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Lexington ESU members were treated to a fascinating presentation and slideshow on April 4 by experimental gardener Paul Wilson. Wilson, a resident of Fairfield, Virginia spoke on the subject of "Capability Brown Comes to Fairfield". The lecture was followed by a buffet dinner held at the Lexington Country Club.
Wilson described how he has strived over the past 40 years to adopt on his Fairfield property some of the landscape gardening principles of Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Brown, an18th century English landscape architect, designed over 170 English gardens, many of which still endure. Brown's naturalistic style including broad sweeping lawns, serpentine lakes and strategically-placed trees. Wilson has toured many of Brown's gardens, and included photographs of them in his presentation. He also showed "before" and "after" photos of his property, showing a remarkable transformation over the past 40 years.
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With a performance of a sonnet and monologue from Shakespeare, Donna Boyd from Lexington, VA, a student of Janie Thames at Spotswood High School in Penn Laird, placed as a semi-finalist in the 34th annual English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition in New York City. The Competition took place on May 1, 2017 on the stage of the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center with 54 semi-finalists from as many ESU Branch competitions nationwide. Donna previously won the ESU Lexington Branch competition.
The winner of the 34th English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition, Ogechi Egonu, representing the San Francisco Branch, received a full scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp in Staunton, VA, this summer. Second place winner, Brandon Burk, from the Kentucky Branch, won a cash prize of $1,000 from The English-Speaking Union, while the third place winner, Trevon Wainwright, representing the Kansas City Branch of the ESU, received an award of $500 provided by The Shakespeare Society.
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BUSS Scholarship winner Janie Thames with Maxwell Caskie,
Education Chair
Lexington ESU members heard from the recipients of three awards provided by the group at its October 14, 2016 opening meeting and reception held at Kendall Hall. The speakers were Mausam Mehta, winner of the Lexington branch Shakespeare competition in May, BUSS scholarship winner Janie Thames, and Oxford scholarship winners Sarah Lemon and Danielle Hughson.
Mehta, a junior at Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia, treated the audience to a monologue from "The Winter's Tale" that she had performed onstage at the Lincoln Center. After winning the Lexington branch competition in May, Mehta participated as a semi-finalist in the 33rd annual ESU National Shakespeare Competition in New York City.
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