On Tuesday, January 30th, 2025, the Bronx Science English Department hosted the annual Shakespeare Competition, where students across all grades competed for the chance to perform at the the City Semi-Finals run by The English Speaking Union.
Fourteen students across all four grades at Bronx Science competed on this wintery afternoon, performing pieces including Lady Macbeth’s infamous monologues and some of Shakespeare’s renowned 157 sonnets. Of these gifted participants, the winner for the 2025 competition was Lucienne Beaubien-Paulson ’26 with runner-up Harper Quill ’28.
The preparation process for the competition is a strenuous one. Every competitor needs to memorize their respective monologue and sonnet and take the extra step of thoroughly understanding the context of what they are performing.
Many competitors, including runner-up Harper Quill, take efforts to translate the Shakespearian language to modern English to better understand their respective texts. For the competitors , this level of understanding is one of the most difficult obstacles of the competition. “Shakespeare’s complicated language and deeper maturity makes this so different from other acting experiences I have had,” Quill said.
Beyond memorization and comprehension, another crucial aspect of preparation is developing a nuanced performance that brings Shakespeare’s words to life in an interactive way. Many competitors dedicate weeks to refining their physicality, vocal projection, and emotional expression, ensuring that every movement and intonation aligns with the intention of the text. Some students work with drama teachers or coaches, while others film themselves rehearsing in order to analyze their gestures and delivery. Additionally, students discuss their monologues with peers and teachers, gaining valuable feedback that allows them to refine their interpretations. This immersive approach helps competitors not only deepen their understanding of Shakespeare’s work, but also develop skills in storytelling and stage presence that extend far beyond the competition itself.
Evan Norat ’26 brought the audience to fits of insuppressible giggles with his hilarious performance of the porter’s drunken monologue from Macbeth. To bring this soliloquy to life, Norat had a defined process that allowed him to fully immerse himself into the role. “My process for preparing my chosen pieces consisted of several steps. First, I worked on perfectly memorising my sonnet and soliloquy. Second, I planned out expressive body language for each part of my pieces. Finally, I rehearsed in front of my English teachers and implemented suggestions that they gave me into my performance,” said Norat.
Being able to channel these deeper meanings into these Shakespearean performances makes all the difference, as touched on by competitor Olive Forman-Sarno ’26. “When I perform Shakespeare, I try to bring that to life. I want to make sure that I am speaking slowly and deliberately, in a way that makes it seem that I am speaking as I am thinking, in the moment,” said Forman-Sarno. “It’s really hard to do well, but it’s an incredible aspect of Shakespeare’s writing and it deserves to be emphasized.”
When the competition day arose, competitors took turns to perform their monologue and sonnet in front of three judges from Bronx Science’s English Department faculty: Mr. Alexander Thorp, Mr. Kevin Chillemi, and Mr. Nicholas McConnell. The three teachers judged the performances on grading sheets, taking into account the creative ways in which performers decide to bring to life the words of Shakespeare. Whether it was manic pacing back-and-forth or lunging forward with imaginary daggers, all competitors channeled the importance of Shakespeare’s words having meant to be performed. Once all performers have gone, the teachers discussed what has been shown and decided on a consensus for the winner and runner-up.
A tradition of the competition that is most cherished is the ability for all competitors to observe everyone else’s performance and learn from it. For competitors like Forman-Sarno, this is what makes the experience most rewarding. “It was amazing getting to see how everyone else brought their characters to life. It was a learning opportunity for me because I could look at how others performed and make mental notes for future performances,” said Forman-Sarno.
Anna Koontz had a similar takeaway from her experience. “No matter who wins, I love the excitement of performing and also watching other students perform! This is my second year participating, and both times have been really inspiring,” Koontz said.
Beaubien-Paulson ’26 took the first place prize from her performance of Sonnet 46, following her runner-up title from the year before. The Sonnet is a before-its-time romantic-comedy piece in which the heart and the eye struggle over the affection of the speaker’s lover, and Lady Anne’s monologue from King Richard III. In this piece, Beaubien-Paulsen contrasts the light-hearted nature of her sonnet with the intense emotion of Lady Anne after her dramatic discovery that two of her family members have been murdered by King Richard.
Though this was not her acting debut, Beaubien-Paulson recognized the new challenges that came with performing Shakespeare. “I’ve never had to go through so thoroughly and analyze my monologues,” said Beaubien-Paulson. “The language took a lot of work to understand.”
Runner-up Harper Quill ’28 chose Sonnet 50, a reflective piece on the melancholy nature of growing up and leaving the past behind you. To complement this, she also performed a monologue by Rosalind from As you Like It, a Shakespeare classic where witty words and romance play out against the disputes of divided pairs of brothers. Unlike Beaubien-Paulson, Quill had some experience performing Shakespeare, which she found to be helpful throughout this process.
However, there were endless things to learn from her competitors, and Quill—only a sophomore—was sure to take in the performance of her fellow bardolators to even further master the Shakespearean artform. “The most rewarding part was getting to see and experience other students perform,” Quill said. “I saw a lot of people use levels and the space very effectively, and that is something I want to take with me for next time.”
After winning for Bronx Science’s English Speaking Union’s Shakespeare Competition, Beaubien-Paulson competed in the New York City Semi-Finals Competition during late February 2025 at the English Speaking Union’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan. The judges were professionals in the world of theater. She gave a superb performance, but the judges picked students from other schools to advance to the NYC Finals Competition.
Another Bronx Science student found success in the English Speaking Union’s other annual competition, the I AM Shakespeare National Sonnet Writing Competition. The First Place winner of the 2025 nationwide competition was Bronx Science’s very own Ruby Lahana ’27 from her sonnet ‘Melancholic Notes,’ reprinted in full below with her permission.
If we fly on just one more beat of wing
Maybe hands once clasped so tight will twine
Brok’n hearts mending as the warblers sing
Woven with such force of the divine.
Soaring up and up as world grows cold
Blood still beating melancholic notes
But through the chill young always follows old
Forever to thy mother, chick devotes.
Though wind shalt pull the flyers sep’rate ways
And time ticks by with ever faster pace
Though I grow tall, you shorter, nothing stays
Feathers bloom as old ones they replace.
The two shalt find their bearings on the shore
Hands eternally entwined once more.
Lahana’s sonnet is meant to be an ode to her mother and their relationship. Particularly, the emotions by the “minutiae of everyday life, when my mom folds my clothes, or runs through ‘phone, wallet, keys’ on my way out the door, or knows when I am falling just a little; I am filled with an almost painful need for her to know how much I love her,” Lahana said. Shakespeare, celebrated for conveying intense emotions through writing, inspired Lahana to put her feelings into such poetic words.
Shakespeare’s influence endures not just through his words, but through the framework he left behind—a structure that has empowered generations of writers to experiment within its constraints. The sonnet form, with its rhythmic precision and thematic flexibility, has become a timeless blueprint for literary expression.
“Shakespeare’s style allows for so much prolific production within the 10-syllable iambic pentameter,” said Lahana. “There is a reason this structure remains a literary staple; it is just enough to tell a story while forcing you to make every word hold weight and depth.”
As William Shakespeare’s most famous works are deeply integrated into Bronx Science curriculum, Lahana emphasizes how she began to tie themes of Shakespearean works into how she lives her life. She pulls on a recent reading of The Merchant of Venice in her English 10 course and the themes of mercy and justice that Portia follows throughout the play, particularly in the line, “In the course of justice none of us should see salvation,” and its questioning of what we owe each other. Lahana said, “As such, I would question Portia’s view that we must not only accept mercy, we must learn to redefine justice as a balance between its opposite ends. Her words hold so much weight in my life, as I try to navigate my own excesses and defects of justice.”
“His style allows for so much prolific production within the 10-syllable iambic pentameter,” said Ruby Lahana ’27. “There is a reason this structure remains a literary staple; it is just enough to tell a story while forcing you to make every word hold weight and depth.”