After a year of virtual productions and Zooming, students at Bruriah, Frisch, TABC, RKYHS, The Idea School and Maayanot had the incredible opportunity to participate in Envision Shakespeare’s annual festival live and in-person! Rebecca Lopkin of Envision Theater and Nancy Edelman, of The Idea School spearhead the event and we’re excited to bring it back in person this year. Lopkin remarked, “After a year of virtual productions it was so nice to be able to see everyone’s faces and feel the energy in the space when schools performed their scenes and participated in live theatre workshops. What an incredible experience for all!”

Kushner hosted the event outdoors on its beautiful campus, à la Shakespeare in the Park. Students spent the year rehearsing scene 3.1 from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Each school arrived prepared with their scene and ready for the incredible day of theater learning. Three judges,who are professional actors and directors, led students in different participatory workshops. The first workshop tackled the themes in “Hamlet” and the second focused on Shakespearean insults.

Each school had an opportunity to share their scene and receive feedback from the judges. At the conclusion of the day several trophies were awarded. Tziporah Lifschitz from Frisch won the sonnet competition for her rendition of an original sonnet. Sarah Gorbatov of The Idea School won Best Actor for her portrayal of Hamlet. Jacob Colchamiro of RKYHS, won Best Actor for his portrayal of Claudius. Matthew Mendelsohn of RKYHS won Best Director. Bruriah came away with the Grand Prize for overall excellence in performing the scene. Rounding out the day were Shakespeare trivia for prizes, a delicious pizza lunch and a free competition T-shirt for everyone. As the buses pulled away, Lopkin and Edelman smiled and began to wonder: “What scene will we choose next year?”