Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
Announcing the 2026 Student Shakespeare Festival hosted by the San Diego Shakespeare Society.
Who can participate?
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 do so as part of their school or other formal organization. And all minor students must submit the below Media Release signed by a parent or guardian. Scanned copies must be submitted at the time of video submission.
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.
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Free workshops will be offered to interested students to enhance their acting skills. Heather LaForge is a local director and Acting Coach with a specialty in Shakespeare. She 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, contact Dr. LaForge at hlaforgecoaching@gmail.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., Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
Questions? Email Festival Coordinator Gordon Gidlund at: gordon@sdshakespeare.org