Gossip, hearsay, misinformation and antisemitic harassment — a perfect description of various modern social media platforms. It’s also at the heart of Act 3, scene 1 of Shakespeare’s problem comedy, “The Merchant of Venice,” grappled with by seven participating yeshiva high schools at this year’s 10th annual Envision Shakespeare competition.
Co-chaired by Envision Theater director Rebecca Lopkin and SAR English and art history teacher Nancy Edelman, Envision Shakespeare brings together students with a passion for the dramatic arts for a day of theater workshops and competitive performances. Each school’s ensemble performs the assigned scene without costumes or props except for four folding chairs that they are encouraged to use creatively. At this year’s competition, hosted by SAR High School in Riverdale, New York students found inventive ways to bring this scene, in which Shakespeare gives his stock Jewish villain a platform to argue for his humanity (“Hath not a Jew eyes?), to life, working through the difficult depiction of Shylock’s mistreatment as well as his grief over his daughter’s running off with the non-Jewish Lorenzo, along with all of his ducats. With antisemitism on everyone’s mind, working through this difficult scene and thinking about this very controversial play was especially meaningful this year.
The day began with a keynote address by Jessica Schechter, who offered her inspiring perspective as an Orthodox Jewish woman with a career in the dramatic arts. Currently teaching directing at Marymount Manhattan College, she is also a professional voice-over talent, having voiced spots for Sunglass Hut, Amazon, and Samsung among others, and is also producing and acting in the award-winning hit web series “Soon By You.”
After engaging theater workshops led by the professional teaching artists who would also serve as judges for the competition, it was time for the first round of presentations. It was a tough competition among the very talented directors and actors from Bruriah, Central, Flatbush, Frisch, Ma’ayanot, SAR and TABC. After lunch and a Shakespeare trivia contest that earned them a raffle ticket for each correct response, the schools going on to the final round were Bruriah, Central and Ma’ayanot.
At the end of the day, the winners were: Best Overall: Ma’ayanot; Runner-up: Bruriah; Best Director: Miriam Blech, Ma’ayanot; Best Actor: Nate Hain, SAR and Abigail Fuzaylova, Flatbush; Best Supporting Actor: Yehuda Siegel, SAR, Rebecca Tamir, Flatbush and Tara Sokal, Central. Students went home with T-shirts, Shakespeare-themed prizes from the raffle, trophies and high hopes for next year’s competition.
The Envision Shakespeare competition is a unique program that gives yeshiva high school students passionate about theater and the arts a chance to shine and showcase their talents while engaging intensely with the work of the Bard. Lopkin and Edelman are already at work choosing next year’s scene and look forward to another enriching experience. Check out Envision Theater’s website for pictures, videos and more information about the event at www.envisontheater.com. Schools wishing to join next year’s competition should email [email protected] for more information.
