WORCESTER ACADEMY STUDENTS are bringing Shakespeare to life in the 2008 National Shakespeare Competition.

The students, three seniors and a junior, presented memorized monologues this week for the opportunity to compete against students at the state level.

In the end, it was Karin Wefald '09 who succeeded with a rendition of Helena's "O Spite! O Hell!" from "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," which she presented in the Andes Pit Theater.

Karin will now learn a sonnet to recite along with her monologue when she represents WA in the state semi-final in Lexington on Jan 27.

Also participating were Adrienne Andersen '10, runner up (Portia’s speech and Brutus from "Julius Caesar"); Nathaniel Schermerhorn '09 ("Tomorrow and Tomorrow" from "Macbeth"); and Catrina Doxsee '09 (Prospero's epilogue from "The Tempest").

The goal of the competition, sponsored by the English Speaking Union of the United States, is to develop students' understanding of Shakespeare and to help them communicate that understanding to an audience.

Participants are encouraged to bring Shakespeare to life in their own way and to express his words with feeling, clarity, and a full sense of their meaning and intent.

Catherine Paul, a member of the Academy's English faculty and advisor for the WA Shakespeare competition, said it's the first year that Worcester Academy has participated.

"I teach Shakespeare and I would love to have done something like this when I was a student," Mrs. Paul said.  "When I learned about the contest, I was so excited. I wanted to provide that opportunity to students here at Worcester Academy."

She noted that the National Shakespeare Competition is one a growing number of academic competitions in which Academy students participate. Others include the Dexter Prize speaking contest, Model UN, and the Math Team, to name a few.

The National Shakespeare Competition is open to students from grades 10 to 12.  Each participant is limited to 20 lines and must be selected to move on from the school level by a panel of at least three judges. At least three students must participate in the contest.

Judges for Worcester Academy's competition included English teachers Elisabeth Cotton and Jack Haringa, and theater program director Diana Canterbury.