Students from Aquinas Academy in Hampton qualify as Shakespeare finalists

Nine students at Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh in Hampton qualified for the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Showcase of Finalists in two scenes.

The students performed live at the O’Reilly Theater in February.

Fifth graders Theodore Burchill (Cassius), Nicholas Crawford (Messenger), Ethan Mullican (Brutus), John Paul Richthammer (Antony) and Luke Roney (Octavius) qualified in the Lower Scene Division for their portrayal from “Julius Caesar,” Act V, Scene I.

Alice Dingle (ninth grade, Caliban), Ashlin Knox (11th grade, Ariel), John Ortiz (11th grade, Trinculo) and Elizabeth Swift (12th grade, Stephano) qualified in the Upper Scene Division for their portrayal from “The Tempest,” Act III, Scene II.

More than 800 area students from 70-plus schools competed in the preliminary rounds of the 30th annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest at Pittsburgh Public Theater. Teams of judges evaluated each participant.

Five finalists were selected in the four categories. Students in eighth through 12th grades competed in the Upper Division and fourth through seventh in the Lower Division.

Aquinas Academy sent 15 high school students (four scenes and three monologues), 28 middle school students (10 scenes and two monologues) and 15 fifth-grade students (three scenes and two monologues) to the preliminary rounds. The following Aquinas students received honorable mention for their scenes and monologues:

• Lower Division monologue — Thomas Lee from “Macbeth.”

• Lower Division scenes — Gabrielle Boright and Rebecca Bird from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and Garvin Whetzel and Peter Dolan from “Two Gentlemen of Verona.”

• Upper Division scenes — Felicity and Peter Koble from “Romeo and Juliet”; Victoria Lee and Onȅ Sihlangu from “As You Like It”; and Alexandra Swift and Lillian O’Neill from “Hamlet.”