On April 27, students in the Shakespeare Slam team became the runners-up in the citywide contest during a dream-themed performance of “Hamlet,” which they synthesized with the poem “Mirror” by Rita Dove during their final rounds competition at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. This came after qualifying from an initial performance. It is the first time that the team recently has attended the citywide contest. 

The team was able to perform on the main stage of the theater, which made three-year member Azra Badur, a junior, both nervous and proud. 

“It was really cool to be able to perform in front of so many people, and also in such a big and important stage,” Azra said. “I would say that it was surprisingly good.”

Azra was surprised by the event’s turnout. 

“It was surprisingly big for something that I personally consider a bit, I don’t know, niche,” Azra said. “Like, there was a lot of people there, mostly kids from other schools competing, but it was really fun.”

Other team members include Tala Ardati, Vera Cyrenne, Eliza Feigenbaum, SJ Jackson, Alistair MacKay-White and Victoria Syverson.