Two drama students are hosting a school-wide love poem competition
until next Friday, with the winner’s entries to be featured in the fall
play.
The winning poems will be incorporated into the fall performance of
William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. They will appear in the scene
where Rosalind talks about the terrible poems Orlando has been writing.
The set designers also plan to incorporate the poems into the backdrop.
With the support of director and visual and performing arts department head Theresa Bookwalter, seniors Maria Castro Noboa and Johanna Kanes are hosting the competition for the entire student body. “We want to involve the school more in the play,” Kanes said. The winners will receive free tickets to the play.
The poem must be 14 lines long and school-appropriate. “Some people think that means a sonnet, but it can be any type of poem,” Castro Noboa said. “Of course, the theme is love.”
Although Kanes and Castro Noboa are running the competition and will be the judges for the poems, Bookwalter helped them come up with the idea. “I told Ms. Bookwalter that I wanted to be involved in the play,” Castro Noboa said. “Ms. Bookwalter gave us a handout of previous nationwide competitions and this contest came from that idea.”
Kanes, an ensemble member in the play, said that Bookwalter asked Castro Noboa and her to run the competition. “Maria and I jumped on the bandwagon,” she said.
According to Bookwalter, the fall play is a school-wide event. “We like to choose a play for the whole Lowell community,” she said. “This play is about the power of love, so we thought of love poems.”
The competition appeals to a large audience of the student body. “It’s a good opportunity for people to explore creative abilities and it will be a new, unique addition to the play,” sophomore Sophie Rosenmoss said.
Students believe that the competition will help people to share their talent with the school. “People would at least try if they’re into poetry,” freshman Cara Scherer said.
Other students agree that the competition provides a tangible reward for student writers. “People who like to write will have a chance for it to be publicized,” senior Alyssa Antonio said.
Castro Noboa and Kanes will judge the poems based on creativity. “The poem can make us laugh or cry,” Kanes said. “We want to see that someone took the time to think about it — that it has that extra something.”
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