(2.24) Each year the English Speaking Union challenges high school students from across the country to learn and perform one sonnet and one monologue from Shakespeare’s vast collection of works. For the fourth year the Providence Athenaeum will be hosting the regional competition.
Through the competition, students develop communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature. Students read, analyze, perform, and recite Shakespearean monologues and sonnets in three qualifying stages: at the school, community and national levels.
The Nationals will take place at the end of April at Lincoln Center in New York City.
The library recommends that children under the age of 6 be left at home. (I think they are trying to be too open-minded about this — and yes, we all know that your child is gifted and reads sonnets constantly — but these competitors have worked very hard at this and a lot is at stake. Don’t bring your restless child.)
Free and open to the public, 1:30pm to 3pm, Sunday, February 24, Providence Athenaeum, 251 Benefit Street, (directions)