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Area high school students play to packed house for Chicago Shakespeare Slam

High schoolers compete in Shakespeare Slam at Navy Pier
High schoolers compete in Shakespeare Slam at Navy Pier 00:24

CHICAGO (CBS) -- High schoolers from across the city and suburbs played to packed house Thursday night at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier.

It was the final round of the Shakespeare Slam competition.

The students from the 26 participating high schools celebrated Shakespeare's language along with their own voices. Teams of students staged performance pieces based on the Shakespeare play, "Richard III."

The Chicago Shakespeare Theater explained the choice of play.

"Power, revenge, legacy. Invincible determination, fierce femme characters, cut-throat conspiring, curses, untamable ambition—for all these delicious and relevant reasons, Richard III seemed the perfect play for students to be exploring right now," the theater wrote. "And its complex characters and action-packed world give students a playground for their imaginations."

This was the first in-person Slam in three years. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated virtual programming in 2021 and 2022.

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