A tradition started by Mrs. Ortega back in the spring of 2011, Shakespeare Out Loud is an annual Pine Crest event held in celebration of William Shakespeare’s birthday- the official date of which is unknown, but is usually observed on April 23.

This year, the event saw a larger range of events, including a string quintet, a Renaissance dance, and a baking contest. Ms. Anderson’s seminar classes started off the show with abridged reenactments of Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Othello.  These acts were followed by monologues performed by Marissa Hecker from King Lear, Destiny Arlott  from Two Gentlemen of Verona, Amanda Goldberg from The Tempest, and a soliloquy from Two Gentlemen of Verona by Siobhan Boroian.

Another English seminar class soon followed, performing an abridged version of Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth. Brittyn Bonham and Molly Rose Malaney performed a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Indira Ramgolam, Jack Osborn, and Alessandra Yoldas performed a scene from Hamlet. Tessa Gully, Mikayla D’Ambra, and Quinn Cawley finished up the first half of the plays with a performance from Romeo & Juliet.

Next were the middle school sonnet performances, as well as a performance of Marc Antony’s monologue from Antony & Cleopatra by eighth grader Emily Foltz, Puck’s monologue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by eighth grader Jordan St. John, and Hadley Jones and Brianna Anglin with Romeo & Juliet.

After a performance from the PC Chorus, Mrs. Ortega and Mr. Testa performed a Macbeth ghost scene written by Lindsay Sack. Rayna Lunn, Andrea Cureton, and Nicole Swords performed a scene from The Tempest; Samantha Ortega, Christina Sofianos, Laura Rivas, and Sammy Krouse performed a scene from As You Like It. Several students of Mrs. Ortega’s English Literature and Language classes read Sonnet 18 in a variety of languages including Spanish, Swedish, and Hebrew; and following that, there was a line-up of monologues performed by Noey Boldizsar, Chelsea Jubitana, and Catherine Lott.

A string quintet performed Renaissance music pieces, and also played the accompaniment music for the Renaissance dance afterwards. Two more Macbeth ghost scenes were performed, and Ms. Anderson’s sixth period class finished the event with an abridged performance of Hamlet.

The newest addition to Shakespeare Out Loud was the baking contest, or the “Shake & Bake,” which had seven categories for potential winners: Best in Show, Best Character, Best Symbol, Best Play, Best Setting, Best Tasting, and Best Word Play. A collaborative work featuring Queen Titania and Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Brianna Blais-Billie, Andrea Cureton, Isabelle Lumb, and Kyra Noel won Best in Show. Here are the respective winners of the other categories:

Best Play: Gigi Falk

Best Character: Devyn Simon

Best Symbol: Megan Kronengold, Isabel Farlie, Hayden Ciampini

Best Symbol: Lauren Houle

Best Tasting: Brooke Bernstein

Best Wordplay: Nicole Odzer

Best Setting: Sydney Landers