Judy Durkin: a merchant of Shakespeare

While Judy Durkin (’18) usually spends her time at Samo participating in choir or in one of her many other academic triumphs, her main focus outside of Samo is theater. Having been a founder of a teen theater company and a member of the Will Greer Botanicum Theater since middle school, there is no doubt she has pioneered her theatrical talents.  With each character, she brings both her strong talents, that transform her character beyond her form, and her sharp eye for what makes a personality distinctive. One of her most stunning recent undertakings was at the English-Speaking Union (ESU) National Shakespeare Competition. At the age of 17, Durkin is a master of her craft and a Shakespearean titan. Last year she placed as a top ten finalist out of 20,000 students all over the country competing in the ESU National Shakespeare Competition. Durkin walked the stage at Lincoln Center in New York, where she performed one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, a monologue and a cold read to an audience of hundreds of people. This year she will be presenting her talents in the competition again. Durkin competed in the Los Angeles region qualification round and won for the second consecutive year. She will participate in the National finals next month at New York City’s Lincoln Center. “Now that I have a year of the competition under my belt, I find it easier to relax and really take time to appreciate my performances. This year, I decided to perform a tragic monologue instead of a comedic one ” Durkin said. The monologue Durkin will perform at Lincoln Center is Lady Anne’s from “Richard III”. As a finalist in the Los Angeles competition, she performed three pieces-a sonnet, a monologue and a cold read of a randomly-selected Shakespeare monologue that she was given less than ten minutes before she performed it. She goes on to say that the hope is to approach the competition head on. So, it’s not uncommon for her to start building her interpretation from an early start.  “I prepared for the competition by working with Mr. Lee, my teacher. We rehearsed the performance aspects of my pieces, but also, and I think more importantly, we worked on the understanding of Shakespeare’s intricate writing in my sonnet and my monologue.” Perhaps the more expected influential source for Durkin in terms of Shakespeare is her English teacher Chon Lee. Being the host teacher for the Shakespeare club at Samo, he has worked tirelessly with Durkin. “When I progressed to the Los Angeles finals, we began to prepare for the cold readings. Mr. Lee would hand me a random Shakespearean monologue—male and female characters—and I would have to perform it just a few minutes later. The uncertainty of the cold read is the most exciting part of the competition experience,” Durkin said. The National Competition final has historically taken place in New York City on the Monday closest to   Shakespeare’s birthday. This year, students will perform on the Bard’s actual birthday, Monday, April 23. “The entire experience is really fun. Getting to work with the amazing Mr. Lee, meeting fellow teenaged Shakespeare enthusiasts in the Los Angeles area and performing at Lincoln Center are all a dream come true,” Durkin said. “Any chance to perform Shakespeare’s work is an opportunity I will never hesitate to take.”