From making swords to acting out plays, Shakespeare Club has become a safe space for many students to come together over their appreciation of William Shakespeare. Now, the club will be sharing this interest with the community through their first major event, Monologue Madness.
Monologue Madness is an event where faculty members, nominated by students’ votes, will recite monologues from a variety of Shakespeare’s plays while also doing a fun challenge. It will be held on Thursday, March 28 in the Courtyard from 2:15 to 3:00 p.m.
The club already has a list of eight faculty members, including Superintendent Christopher Chew and Detective Bernadin, however, the list will be narrowed down to five through student voting during lunches. Students can pay 25¢ for one vote, and $1 for five.
All the money that is raised through voting or during the event will be given to the World Literacy Foundation in the winning faculty member’s name. The World Literacy Foundation is a global organization that is dedicated to giving literary resources to people and places in need. Whether it be a pack of books for a child or giving a teacher a full classroom worth of materials, English teacher and club advisor Meghan McCarthy believes all donations are equally important.
“We just want to get kids reading, and those aren’t resources that are always provided by [the schools],” McCarthy said.
The event has been in the works ever since the founding of the club three years ago. The inspiration was drawn from McCarthy seeing a video on YouTube of actors reciting monologues after eating hot chili peppers.
“Ms. McCarthy was the first one to test [the challenge] out,” Shakespeare’s Club’s co-president Corleigh O’Connell said. “The original idea was [that] we were going to have students do it, but then we decided we want to switch it over and have faculty members [instead].”
A large-scale event like this is a first for the club. For the past three years, they have only participated in the Holiday Bazaar, selling items while also doing “hauntings” with the ghost of Shakespeare.
“I started [in the club] when I was a freshman and I’m a junior now, so this is the first real [and] big event we’ve had with the school,” Shakespeare’s Club’s co-president Zoe Seiger said.
Because this is their first event, the club is still figuring things out as they go. Their next steps are dependent on whether or not they receive a lot of interest from the student body. The club has discussed involving other clubs, such as WATA, for additional advertisement and to increase interest. However, they believe that no matter what, the event will be a fun time.
“What I think is that it’s not about us making money, but it’s about building some community, showing Shakespeare is actually fun, and helping kids around the world have access to literacy materials,” McCarthy said.
Shakespeare Club meets weekly on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in room 259. For more information, visit the club’s instagram @wa_shakespeare.
