SPA students sweep awards at Shakespeare competition

Students from the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts recently had the opportunity to show off their best wok and improve it at the Utah Shakespearean Festival’s Shakespeare Competition.

Held Oct. 7-8, the competition tested the skills of theatre, dance and music students from 109 secondary schools from across the nation. SPA students added to an already well-stocked trophy case as they took home several awards and scholarships. However, the most important thing was that they grew as individuals through hard work and cooperation, and improved their craft as performers thanks to the judges’ feedback and the chance to learn from their peers, said theatre department head Carrie Morgan.

“They see the strength of others,” said. “Sometimes it’s good to see where you are in relation to those around you in performance.”

SPA’s theatre students brought home a third place overall Sweepstakes award from the Westminster Division of the competition (small schools of 800 or fewer students). Austin Hurd, Kimberly Robbins and Trayvern Call won a first place Ray Jones Award for their trio scene, an award for seniors that includes $1,000 scholarships to Southern Utah University for the top winners. Maggie Wageck, Glenn Brainerd and Bartley Booz won a third place Ray Jones Award. Ava Pinkham also received a separate $1,000 scholarship for her monologue from Henry VIII.

Ava, a senior, portrayed Queen Katharine as she stood in front of Henry’s court, begging him not to divorce her because she had done nothing to deserve it.

“It’s a very deep moment in the play,” Ava said. “It’s very moving.”

She performed her monologue three times for the judges, but was given the scholarship on the spot after only the first time.

Ava has always connected well with Shakespeare’s work, especially his strong female characters, the beauty of his language and the complexity of his thought, she said. As a performer, she appreciates how she can read his work over and over and still be surprised by it, and how “he can be dead for so long and still mess with our brains,” she said.

In the dance category, Ashley Robinson and Oakley Mattews (is this the right spelling? Or is it Mathews?) won a first place duo/trio award. SPA also won the first place ensemble award in the Westminster Division, and had the opportunity to perform in the competition’s end showcase, an honor given to only four schools in the entire competition, regardless of division.

That ending performance was the best part of the competition, as SPA occupied the last slot and received a standing ovation, said senior Bianca Overstreet, who was one of the 11 members of the ensemble.

“It was the most amazing adrenaline feeling in the world,” she said.

The group’s dance, “Insomnia,” was about Shakespeare having sleep trouble because of all the ideas crowding his mind. One boy in the group was Shakespeare, while the rest portrayed tragedy -- including Bianca -- comedy or romance.

“It was a lot of fun,” said junior Britni Goodstein, who portrayed comedy.

She especially appreciated the tenacity of choreographer Jasmine White -- a 2010 SPA alumna -- who pushed her hard and helped her succeed in this project, Britni said.

“She taught me a lot about the kind of movement I’m capable of,” she said.