Get ready to embark on an exhilarating journey as we gather in the vibrant city of Cleveland. We are thrilled to extend a warm invitation to all ESU and International Council members to join us for an unforgettable experience this October.
Poetry tugs at our emotions and affects each of us differently. Listening to versus reading poetry can create different images and thoughts even for the same poem. Join this special ESU Happy Hour when we bring four award-winning poets together to share their love of poetry—Karen Karpowich, Susana Case, Meredith Trede, and Peter Nickowitz. Our poets will be reading their own poems in a round-robin program covering topics such as love, aging, film, travel, art, family, food, and elegy. These poems will inspire us, give us emotional strength and perspectives on our lives. This is a Happy Hour you will want to share with the whole family. Invite your friends to this extraordinary ESU Happy Hour program.
Are you a New York City educator looking to bring the Bard to life in your classroom? The ESU is thrilled to announce this professional development workshop open to teachers participating in the National Shakespeare Competition, TLab, or any of the ESU's education programs. Led by renowned Shakespeare scholar Dr. Nick Walton live via Zoom from Stratford-upon-Avon, this online session will help educators find fresh, engaging ways to introduce Shakespeare to students.
During this Christmas season, Christmas carolers bring the holiday season to life. Join this special Happy Hour and learn how this Christmas tradition began and changed over time. Beginning with Roman times, carols emerged from songs sung during the four seasons. During the Middle Ages, minstrels played carols. The Tudor period, brings a rich Tudor feast described in one carol. Carols were suppressed during the Cromwellian period. The eighteenth century saw many more carols written and composed. In the nineteenth century, many carols came to England from the continent. Our guest speaker, Adrienne Hesketh, will perform her own carol with the Baptist Church band.
Katherine Carter, longstanding curator of the Churchill family's country home, will present her pivotal new account of Churchill’s activities during the 1930s, highlighting how Chartwell, his rural residence, became the epicenter of his anti-Nazi endeavors. During the 1930s, as Europe edged closer to conflict, Winston Churchill was politically sidelined. However, it was during this period that his home, Chartwell, in Kent, transformed into the command center for his crusade against the rise of Nazi Germany. He convened with esteemed colleagues and sources, such as Albert Einstein and T.E. Lawrence, who bolstered his efforts while he diligently warned of the looming war.
Join this fascinating Happy Hour with guest speaker Debra Rhodes Smith who has written a memoir of anecdotes during her 34-year career as a certified arts appraiser and Fine Art Advisor. Many experiences are shared while amassing the art collections for some of the largest corporations and luxury hotels worldwide. In her book, “Tales of Art Beyond the Frame,” Smith describes one of her most interesting assignments involving the acquisition of a Monet for a client and through some quirky circumstances at a Sotheby’s auction, she was able to obtain a million-dollar Monet for well under the valued price. All of Smith’s tales are true, witty, poignant, intelligent, informative, sophisticated, and a fresh perspective of the often-mysterious world of art.
Are you a high school educator eager to make Shakespeare’s sonnets more accessible and engaging for your students?
The ESU is excited to invite you to an exclusive professional development workshop, designed for teachers involved in the National Shakespeare Competition, TLab, or any of the ESU’s education programs.
Sponsored by the ESU Kansas City Branch.
Filmmaker and conservationist, Patricia Sims, talks about her journey to create the annual global awareness campaign, World Elephant Day, which she founded in 2012. Through her photography of Asian and African elephants, Patricia portrays her conservation work with elephants, her documentaries about elephants, and her recent trip to Kenya to see how the impact of World Elephant Day has helped numerous conservation organizations protect these animals for more than a decade by creating a global movement to save elephants.
The ESU is hosting another Showtime Shindig which is part of the ESU Theatre Club. We will be seeing Andrew Lloyd's Sunset Boulevard starring Grammy-nominated singer and Laurence Olivier-Award winning actress Nicole Scherzinger. We will be attending the show on Saturday, February 22nd at 2PM and having a light brunch before the show at the ESU's […]
Join us on Tuesday, February 25, for the ESU New York City Branch Shakespeare Finals at The Players, an historic theater landmark in the heart of Gramercy Park! From 3:30 to 6:00 PM, 10 talented high school finalists from across NYC will take the stage in this iconic venue, competing for a chance to represent NYC at the ESU National Shakespeare Competition Finals at Lincoln Center on April 28.
Come cheer on these amazing young performers as they bring Shakespeare’s words to life in this incredible setting!
Sponsored by the ESU Richmond Branch. British historian, Sir Spencer Walpole, described King George IV (1762-1830) as "a bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a bad subject, a bad monarch, and a bad friend." The Duke of Wellington was more charitable of the king, " was indeed the most extraordinary compound of talent, wit, buffoonery, obstinacy, and good feeling--in short, a medley of the most opposite qualities--with a great preponderance of good--that I ever saw in any character in my life." King George IV was known for his manners and charm but also for his drunkenness, spendthrift ways, and scandalous love life.
The English-Speaking Union Founder’s Award Gala
Honoring Dr. E. Quinn Peeper
ESU National Chairman
His Britannic Majesty’s Honorary Consul to Louisiana
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Winter Park Racquet Club
Winter Park, Florida
