On February 15 and 16, FVHS Theatre competed at the annual Shakespeare Festival hosted by Chapman University.
The festival allows each school to submit two monologues and one scene. Theatre students were required to audition to perform in any one of these three.
Nikki Tran (‘14) and Alex-Quan Pham (‘13) were chosen for monologues in a scene including Jake Wells (’15), Julia Nguyen (’14), Michael Peters (’15), Brandon Khong (’13), Maggie Fayez (’13), Morgan Capristo (’15), and Ashley Ramos (’15).
Tran and Pham prepared their pieces for about a month before the day of competition. Ally Fiallo (’13) also used that time to prepare her costume design entry.
“The festival is a lot of work, but really fun,” said Jake Wells (’15), “Shakespeare is really hard to act but once you get into it it’s more fun than any other scene to do.”
The festival takes place over the span of 2 days; the first day involves workshops that expand the student’s perspective on Shakespearean acting, while the second day is the day of performance.
Students were greeted on the first day in the Chapman Theatre by faculty members and the festival director before being assigned to workshops that ranged from voice production to movement.
“The class that [we] took was really fun and interesting,” said Ariel Shvartsman (’13). “It was called Shakespearean combat.”
“Basically, we learned how to fight with swords without using actual swords,” said Shvartsman. “It was super fun and I now know how to defend myself!”
On the second day, Ally Fiallo delivered her presentation on costumes for The Tempest. Alex-Quan Pham and Nikki Tran performed dramatic monologues from Measure for Measure and Henry VI, Part 1, respectively. The scene performed was a comedic piece from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
When the time came for the awards ceremony, Ally Fiallo won the Exceptional Costume Design award for skillfully blending modern elements into classical Shakespearean costumes.
“I was really excited but I couldn’t really believe it. It was awesome having the recognition and I can’t wait to compete in another festival,” Fiallo said elatedly.
The festival as a whole was an enriching experience for all involved.
As noted by Michael Peters, “Getting to learn about Shakespeare in a setting as awe-inspiring as Chapman University is a dream come true.”
