All The World’s A Stage! 60+ MTLSD Students Participate in the 32nd Annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest

More than 60 Mt. Lebanon School District students recently took the stage at the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s 32nd Annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. Students selected, memorized, and performed monologues and scenes, preparing with the support of their teachers and through a unique coaching experience with teaching artists from the Public Theater. This year’s preliminary round, held at the O'Reilly Theater, included more than 1,000 students from across the region.

High School Highlights

• Congratulations to Sanvi Banka, Bridget Battenfelder, Colin Bozick, Even Dyrud, Freyja Dyrud, Kate Jeon, Tijana Pradhan, Cadence Pratt, Clay Raff, and Marti Weisberg for their outstanding performances.
• Special recognition goes to Colin Bozick, Even Dyrud, Kate Jeon, and Marti Weisberg, who earned honorable mentions
• Freyja Dyrud, who advanced to the Showcase of Finalists and performed her portrayal of Constance from King John. 

Middle School Highlights
Mt. Lebanon Middle School students earned multiple honorable mentions, bringing scenes from Love’s Labour’s Lost, Coriolanus, and Much Ado About Nothing to life.

• Jefferson Middle School: Theron Raymond
• Mellon Middle School: Veronica Aristegui, William Atwood, Clara Farmer, Cecily Mueller, and Rohan Parekh. 
• Middle School participants included: 
  • JMS: Nolan Burmaster, Willa Byham-Clawson, Vik Krishna, Katya Rowley, Michael Rowley, Clara Song, and Lizzy White. 
  • MMS: Clara Chisholm, Clara Haywiser, Emma Heisel, Chrissy Herzog, Elliot Hershey, Dylan Hook, Myeesha Joi-Garland, Halima Kamel, Clara McRee, Sathya Narayan, Ketzia Schecter, Holly Schnirel, Finn Snodgrass, Clara Stafford, and Anisse Suri-Brown

Elementary School Highlights 

Twenty-four students from Mt. Lebanon Elementary Schools participated in the 2026 Shakespeare contest. Congratulations to Colton Jackson, Julia Tatel, and Benjamin White for receiving Honorable Mention for their monologue performances.

• Daniel Saldanha, Kayla McLean, Nina Bodi, and April Palcho from Hoover Elementary School.
• Arlo Robertson-Cenzual, Shataneek Dasgupta, Suprateek Dasgupta, and Bryan Liu from Howe Elementary School.
• Julia Tatel, Claire Ragan, Caroline Kramer, Mishika Goel, and Mallory Anderegg from Jefferson Elementary School. 
• Friedrich Strauss, Colton Jackson, Benjamin White, Eleanor Freeburn, and Luna Rieger from Lincoln Elementary School.
• Ognjen Petrusic and Eamon McGee from Markham Elementary School.
• Leena Millard, Francesca Laura-DiBella, Leonie Weygandt, and Cecelia Lewis from Washington Elementary School.