Student Shakespeare Festival | The San Diego Shakespeare Society

Compete in the 20th Annual Student Shakespeare Festival!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All schools in San Diego County (public, private, parochial) and other K-12 school-aged organizations may submit videos of their students performing in the following categories:

Sonnet/Monologue: A single student may recite either one complete Shakespeare sonnet or one monologue from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Suggested time is under three minutes.

Ensemble Scene: Two or more students may present a scene or cutting from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Suggested time is under eight minutes.

In performing in these categories, students will fall into either High School or Non-High School divisions. Entrants with students from both divisions will compete in the division of their majority. If students are equally divided, the student advisor may choose the division.

All students performing must be part of a school or other formal organization. And all students must submit a Media Release signed by a parent or guardian. Scanned copies must be submitted at the time of video submission. The Media Release form is found here:

Media Release Form – 2025 Download

A judging panel will review all accepted videos and award First ($150), Second ($100), and Third ($75) prizes in each of the two categories and for each of the two divisions. The decisions of the judges will be final. The award amounts will only be transferred to the student advisors. At the organization’s request, a representative of the Shakespeare Society can present the award in person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Free workshops will be offered to interested students to enhance their acting skills. Heather LaForge is a co-founder of Groundworks Theatre and received her Ph.D. in Theatre from UC San Diego, where she taught theatre history, theory, performance, film, and writing courses and won an Excellence in Teaching Award for her outstanding work. If you wish to arrange a workshop for your students, please contact Dr. LaForge at heather@groundworkstheatrearts.com.

All submitted videos will be subsequently posted to the Shakespeare Society’s YouTube channel for later viewing.

Videos must be submitted to news@sdshakespeare.org by 11:59 p.m., April 26, 2025.

Questions? Email Festival Coordinator Gordon Gidlund at: gordon@sdshakespeare.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Winners of the 19th Annual Student Shakespeare Festival:

In the Sonnet/Monologue category:
Macbeth
Act 2 Scene 1
Performed by: Connor Sortwell
Saint Augustine High School

In the Ensemble Scene category:
The Tempest
Act 2 Scene 1
Performed by: Jacob Washington and Michael Hoag
Saint Augustine High School

Watch the 16th annual festival now, live-streamed on April 24, 2021!

The San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival is produced by the San Diego Shakespeare Society in association with Write Out Loud.

Check out all the Festival info from Write Out Loud here!

Hundreds of students from K-12 representing San Diego City and County schools, perform 10-minute scenes, sonnets, music,and/or dance from Shakespeare’s plays. Truly a sight to behold and enjoyed by hundreds of spectators and proud family members! The Student Shakespeare Festival has been held in beautiful Balboa Park.

“O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day;
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun…”
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (I, iii, 84-87)

We hold workshops for teachers and students to help them prepare for their festival performances: