Envision Shakespeare is an exciting new program inspired by Shakespeare High, a film documenting a very successful Shakespeare competition program in Southern California. This competition takes place yearly, with par­ticipating schools preparing a given scene over the course of the school year and then meet­ing to perform their scenes with hopes of earn­ing the big trophy.

“We are very excited to announce the cre­ation Envision Shakespeare (E.S.,) a program designed specifically for the yeshiva high schools in the tri-state area,” said, Rebecca Lopkin, E.S. Co-Chair and Founder and Artistic Director of Envision Theater, an Education­al Theater Company serving New York and New Jersey Day Schools. Lopkin has teamed up with Nancy Edelman, E.S. Co-Chair and senior English department member and Shakespeare aficionado at Torah Academy of Bergen County to spearhead this exciting new endeavor. “Students are always looking for ways to express their creativity and this fun and healthy competition provides just that opportunity,” remarked Mrs. Edelman.

Envision Shakespeare’s competition re­quirements for schools include:

· a student director guided by a facility ad­visor

· students rehearse during or after school

· the scene must be memorized

· there are no props, just pantomime, or costumes (black t-shirts and jeans suffice)

· the scene must be staged in a classroom using only chairs and desks as set pieces.

In the spring, the schools all converge at a host school where the competition will take place tournament-style. At the end, the two fi­nal scenes compete for the winning trophy and bragging rights. Other trophies may be award­ed for most creative staging, most original in­terpretation of the scene or excellence in physi­cal acting. Judges are theater professionals and educators who will follow strict judging guide­lines. Other exciting elements of competition day include hands-on theater workshops giv­en by NYC theater professionals, an exciting trophy ceremony, and time to meet and chat with other yeshiva high school students who also love Shakespeare and theater!

All tri-state yeshiva high schools are wel­come to join in the friendly competition. This year’s inaugural program for the 2014-2015 school year is now accepting enrollment ap­plications. Enrollment fee for this first year is only $300 per school, which includes all theat­er workshops, participatory trophies and Envi­sion Shakespeare T-shirts with names of par­ticipating schools listed on the back for each student. For more information about the pro­gram and to sign your school up, please con­tact:

Rebecca Lopkin or Nancy Edelman at envi­[email protected].