Shakespearean Lines, Through Students' Voices... The First National Speech Competition

The Korean Shakespeare Association is recruiting participants for the 1st "Speak the Speech Korea," where students recite lines from Shakespearean works in English. Starting registration on October 1, this competition is an event where participants interpret and speak the lines of the works through their own thoughts. It will be conducted across five categories ranging from kindergarten to high school, and the preliminary round will be held through a video screening where participants submit a recording of their self-introduction and a designated line. The finals will be held on November 28 at George Mason University Korea in Songdo, Incheon.

This is the first official national-level competition held by the Korean Shakespeare Association. The association stated that rather than a contest to compete only in English pronunciation or proficiency, the focus is on understanding the characters and humanities questions contained within the lines and speaking them again from a modern perspective. The name "Speak the Speech" was taken from Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Participants will choose one from the designated works and lines for each category to submit for the preliminaries.

Emphasis on Understanding the Work and Characters Rather Than English Proficiency

This competition, hosted by the Korean Shakespeare Association, is designed to allow students to express the lines of Shakespearean works with their own voices. The competition name "Speak the Speech Korea" was taken from "Hamlet."

Seo Dong-ha, president of the Korean Shakespeare Association, said, "This competition is not a place to select students who are good at English. It is a place for training to read the text, understand the people within it, and speak again with one's own voice." The association stated that it is not a competition to compete in English pronunciation or English proficiency. The evaluation items included not only vocal expression but also physical expression, acting skills, interpretation of the work, and artistic intention. Participants will express how they understood the characters in the work and the meaning of the lines while reciting the designated lines.

The participation categories are divided into Kindergarten, Elementary 1–3, Elementary 4–6, Middle School, and High School. The Kindergarten category is for 6–7 year old kindergarten classes. Each participant will choose one of the designated lines for their category and include it in the preliminary video. For the lower grade categories, the number of selectable lines is fixed at two, while the Middle School and High School categories choose one out of five each. A total of 60 people, 12 from each category, will advance to the finals.

Designated Lines by Category, from Sonnets to Courtroom Speeches

The Kindergarten, Elementary 1–3, and Elementary 4–6 categories choose one between Sonnet 18 and Puck's closing lines from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The same two works' lines are designated for these three categories. Participants choose one of the two lines and recite it in English. The association provided the works containing these lines as the designated list for each category.

The Middle School category chooses one from Juliet's monologue in "Romeo and Juliet," Sonnet 43, the speech in front of the castle wall in "Henry V," Antony's funeral oration in "Julius Caesar," or Katherine's final words in "The Taming of the Shrew." The High School designated list includes Portia's courtroom speech in "The Merchant of Venice," the hymn to England in "Richard II," Cleopatra's final moments in "Antony and Cleopatra," Antony's funeral oration in "Julius Caesar," and Sonnet 43.

The designated lines broadly include sonnets as well as monologues and speeches from plays. The themes introduced by the association include sonnets singing of love and time, a king's speech encouraging courage, a funeral oration persuading the crowd, and a courtroom defense discussing mercy. Both Middle School and High School include Antony's funeral oration in "Julius Caesar" and Sonnet 43 as options, while the remaining works were set differently by category. Participants can check the list determined for their respective category and choose one line to submit for the preliminaries.

Face-to-Face Finals on November 28 After Video Preliminaries

The preliminaries will be conducted via video. Participants must record an English self-introduction and the designated line into a single video and upload it to the competition website. The total video length must be within 3 minutes. Registration is open until October 31, and video uploads are possible until November 3. The deadlines for registration and video submission were announced separately.

The finalists will be announced on November 10. A total of 60 people, selecting 12 from each category, will advance to the finals. The designated lines to be recited at the finals will be individually notified to participants on November 16. The finals will be held offline at George Mason University Korea in Songdo, Incheon, on November 28. Instructions regarding the lines read in the preliminary video and the designated lines for the finals will be conducted separately.

The association will proceed with the competition schedule in the order of participant recruitment, video submission, announcement of finalists, and the face-to-face finals. The number of people moving from the preliminaries to the finals has been set equally for each category. Finalists will prepare the lines they are individually notified of on November 16 and recite them on the day of the event. The awards ceremony will also take place on the same day.

Absolute Evaluation of Four Areas... Certificates for All Participants

The evaluation for the finals will be conducted by English humanities professors officially registered with the Korean Shakespeare Association. The evaluation items are four areas: vocal expression, physical expression and acting skills, interpretation of the work, and artistic intention. Each area is scored from 1 to 5 points. Instead of ranking, achievement will be evaluated through absolute evaluation.

During the evaluation process, only the participant's registration number will be displayed on the judging screen instead of their name and school. The association stated that this was done so that judges cannot know the names or schools. Awards will be presented on the day of the finals. One person will receive the Korean Shakespeare Association President's Award, and a total of 16 people, including winners of the British Korean Society President's Award, British Council Director's Award, and George Mason University President's Award for each category, will receive awards.

All participants who advance past the preliminaries will be provided with an official certificate from the Korean Shakespeare Association and an evaluation report containing scores for each area. The certificate will be issued in both Korean and English, and the provision date is November 30. Participants will be registered as student members of the association and will be invited to the association's humanities education program in 2027. The competition accepts applications until October 31, receives preliminary videos until November 3, and announces the finalists on November 10. The final lines will be individually notified on November 16, and the on-site competition and awards ceremony will take place on November 28.

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