By Morgan MacKinnon
The English-Speaking Union
Education. Scholarship. Understanding.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathryn Marmion
609-844-0949
[email protected]
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
For teen from Gloucester Institute of Technology
Princeton, February 27, 2013 Mr. Carter Ford from Logan Township, a student of Kirsten Lynch-Walsh at Gloucester Institute of Technology in Sewell, won the Princeton regional event of the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition. Carter Ford had already won his school Shakespeare competition at Gloucester Institute of Technology. The ESU Branch competition was held on February 24th at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, and 12 school winners from the Princeton area participated. Mr. Ford impressed the judges and captivated the audience with his performance of Angelo from Measure for Measure and his recitation of Sonnet 130. He will go on to represent the Princeton area as a semi-finalist at National competition, which will be held on April 22nd on stage at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Mr. Ford will be awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to New York for the final stage of the Competition and two full days of educational and cultural activities, including an exclusive acting workshop at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Perhaps best of all for Mr. Ford will be the opportunity to spend a weekend with other competitors from across the country, who share his love of Shakespeare’s works.
The final competition first place winner will receive a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s Young Actors Summer School in London. The second place winner receives an all-expenses-paid scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Centre’s Theater Camp in Staunton, VA. The third place winner receives $500 from The Shakespeare Society.
The judging panel at the National Competition consists of actors, directors, Shakespeare scholars and educators. Past judges have included Andre Braugher, Kate Burton, Maurice Charney, Blythe Danner, Barry Edelstein, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Edward Herrmann, Dana Ivey, Kristin Linklater, Peter MacNicol, Jesse L. Martin, Cynthia Nixon, Tina Packer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nancy Piccione, Phylicia Rashad, Christopher Reeve, Louis Scheeder, Richard Thomas, Courtney B. Vance, Sam Waterston, Dianne Wiest, Gene Wilder and Irene Worth.
The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program in which high school students nationwide read, analyze, perform and recite Shakespearean monologues and sonnets. Through the program, students develop communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature. In three progressive competition levels, students present the Bard’s works in their own schools, at ESU Branch sponsored community competitions and at the National Shakespeare Competition. Celebrating its 30th, the program has given more than 250,000 young people of all backgrounds the opportunity to bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life and learn to express his words with understanding, feeling and clarity.
The English-Speaking Union is a non-profit, non-political educational organization, whose mission is to celebrate English as a shared language to foster global understanding and good will by providing educational and cultural opportunities for student, teachers and its members. The ESU carries out its work through a network of 70 Branches and affiliates in the United Kingdom and 60 other countries, sponsoring a variety of language and international education programs. For information on joining The English-Speaking Union of the United States, visit www.esuus.org or call 212-818-1200.
The English-Speaking Union of the United States
144 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-818-1200 Fax: 212-867-4177
Email: [email protected] Website: www.esuus.org

