Miners compete at Shakespeare Fest for Drama, and at U of U for Debate

Park City High Debate Team. Photo: Preston Knutson

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — This past weekend the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Southern Utah University hosted the 49th annual Shakespeare Competition where dozens of awards and scholarships were given to drama, dance, and music students. 

The competition is the largest scholastic Shakespeare competition in North America, and this year, over 3,000 students from 102 schools attended from Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, and Wisconsin. More than 300 coaches and teachers helped prepare these students for the competition. It had 80 judges consisting of arts professionals with strong literary and performance backgrounds, including company members from the 2025 season at the Festival, provided feedback to participants.  

It recognizes and educates students between second and twelfth grade in four areas: acting, dance/choreography, music, and technical theatre. At the conclusion of the competition, selected students received trophies, plaques, and scholarships to study with professionals at Southern Utah University and the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Education Director Stewart Shelley said in a statement, “This weekend has been truly inspiring, seeing so many young people deeply engaged with Shakespeare and theatre. It’s an honor to witness the exceptional work showcased throughout the competition and to watch students thrive, surrounded by peers who share their passion and dedication.”

While the Park City High School Miners Drama Theater Production Class loaded up the bus, stayed in a hotel, and under the tutelage of Teacher Crichelle Hanson and Eccles Theater Manager Jason Jensen participated, they were not the recipients of any prizes this time around, they did have a great time, and Dashle finished strong in the Tech Olympics Carpentry category.

Among other categories, they competed in the Ensemble with Masks and Masquerades where the students all made their own masks for an interpretive dance-esque, poetic-like stage performance. 

In the monologue competition, well-rounded Alec Lebwohl, who was thankful for the opportunity to tag along as he’s busy as the Student Council Secretary when the Drama Class usually gathers, performed a scene from Act III, Scene III of Hamlet, he did Claudius’ Soliloquy. Without skipping a beat, he was able to say his favorite line from the six to ten minute performance for his interview with TownLift, “What if this hand were thicker than itself with brother’s blood, is there not rain enough in the sweet Heavens to wash it white as snow?”

He hopes to study theater performance acting after high school and pursue a bachelors degree in fine arts. “I think just how important performing arts and fine arts is as a whole for the development of kids,” Lebwohl said, “and like, you know, Shakespeare, so it’s, it’s hard to like Shakespeare, right? If you don’t understand it, or, you know, you have your own opinions about him, but the culture and the poetry that you learn, especially when you are seeing it live by people who understand it is, I think, an experience that can’t be overlooked.” 

Then afterwards all the students were treated to a performance by the Shakespeare Festival of the play A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. “I thought it was excellent, and everyone really enjoyed it, they got a standing ovation.”

Simultaneously, on the campus of the the University of Utah, the completely separate Park City High School Debate Team was  attending this school year’s first competition, the annual Beehive Bonanza organized by the Utah Debate Association and includes both ‘Tech’ (more experienced, and ‘Lay’ (relatively less experienced) judges.

Anna Williams is the Park City High School Debate Class Teacher and Preston Knutson, Gavin Serr, Alex O’Brien and Mark Parker are coaches for the different categories for which the Team averages two tournaments per month for the duration of the school year. In year’s past, when they might have had single digit sign-ups, Debate is enjoying up to 40 students signing up for the Wednesday afterschool Club this year.

At the U of U, Payton Bullet got third in Open Humorous Interpretation, and Mia Sawyer was a quarterfinalist in Open Lincoln Douglas Debate. 

One Miner got fifth in Open Congress and another, Maddie Hadar, placed sixth in the Open Congress Debate category.

“It felt good to be able to make it to the finals round and place in the top half,” Hadar told TownLift. “Seeing the outcome, it gave me hope and confidence for this season. With great coaching, most of our team performed really well.”

Overall, the Miners as a Team placed fifth in the Speech and Debate Sweepstakes. 

Ella Carlson is the Debate duo-teammate of Lebwohl who had to make a choice to attend the Shakespeare Festival over the Beehive Bonanza. He’s in both the Debate Class and Club. Hadar, for example, as so many do, competes in Golf for the Miners, however it’s in the Spring so she and Carlson were at the U over the weekend. 

Regarding Debate, Lebwohl said “We are very lucky to have an administration that is so supportive of Speech and Debate.” Lebwohl is in the current Class, one of the only teenagers historically admitted,  of Leadership Park City. And as such, told TownLift, “Debate and hockey are the only, like not to call debate a sport, but we’re the only sports or activities in the state’s highest 5A competition category, which means we’re pretty darn good. Making a donation to keep those things going, during the upcoming Live PC, Give PC totally helps a lot.”

Next up for the Park City High School Debate Team is a competition this weekend at Herriman High, a comp called Mustang Madness.