On Jan 9, 2026 at the Miramonte Theater, Drama students presented “As You Like It,” “Macbeth”, “Richard III”, “Taming of the Shrew”, and “Twelfth Night” alongside 11 monologues adapted from the original Shakespeare.
A 14-year-old tradition, the Shakespeare Showcase is the culmination of students’ work since the first semester. Students will head to AUHSD’s “Shakes Fest” this Friday, Jan. 16, and the two best monologues will be taken to the English Speaking Union’s (ESU) Regional Shakespeare Competition.
Challenged to take a Shakespeare play and perform it in 10 minutes, the actors wore all black and performed without the usual effects of costumes, lighting, and backdrops. In some cases, the 10-minute version is a close interpretation of the text, and in others, students rearrange the lines and use creative license to tell a new story. “Sometimes the performances are absolutely hilarious, and other times they are very powerful and dramatic. But in all cases, what they come up with is truly original and mesmerizing,” Drama teacher Heather Cousins said.
For the actors, the Shakespeare Showcase presents an opportunity to hone acting skills in a new and challenging setting. “It really makes it so that character work is more important, so that when our words may not make sense our actions should make sense,” Drama 1 student and sophomore Rowan Reasoner said.
In addition, seniors part of the Drama Honors class, Avery Kane and Camille Meezan, wrote and produced a piece for the “Open Category,” where students can write anything but Shakespeare, using the same guidelines as the rest of the show. This year, the seniors chose “Twilight” as the night’s final performance.
Furthermore, students will perform at the local Shakes Fest on Jan. 16 and display their work. From there, two Miramonte actors will go on to compete at the ESU Regional Shakespeare Competition in San Francisco. Specifically, Bella Verrico, reading “The Jailer’s Daughter” from “Two Noble Kinsmen,” and Alice Olson, reading Mercutio’s monologue from “Romeo and Juliet,” were chosen via audience vote after the showcase for the best monologues and will represent Miramonte at the competition. First prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to perform at Lincoln Center in New York to compete for a spot performing at London’s Globe Theater.
“There is a certain universality to Shakespeare that makes it relevant and engaging for hundreds of years, but this project is all about discovering your own way to tell the story,” Cousins said. For more Drama, check out “Mean Girls” from March 6-14 and the Honors Short Play Fest from April 23-26.
