The Lexington Branch of the English-Speaking Union has been actively involved, both nationally and internationally, in the English-Speaking Union since 1966. Our aim is to provide both teachers and college students educational opportunities to study abroad. In addition, we heartily support the Shakespeare Competition which gives high school students an opportunity to compete on a national level.
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Lexington Branch members enjoyed a night of poetry, bagpipes, haggis and a "wee dram" as part of the Robert Burns Night held on March 4, 2018 at VMI's Moody Hall. Speaker Les Strachan spoke on "Robert Burns, Scotland's Poet", quoting extensively from the poet's work. The haggis, generously provided by ESU members Lyn and Carol Dent, was sampled by many and even enjoyed by some!
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Lexington Branch Shakespeare Competition participants, January 20, 2018
Dianelys Mustelier-Mayeta, from Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Virginia, won first place at the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition Lexington Branch contest on January 20, 2018. Mustelier-Mayeta, a student of teachers Cecille Deason and Michael Villacrusis, performed Parolles monologue from All's Well That Ends Well, Act IV, scene i, as well as Sonnet 127. She will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City along with 55 other contestants from around the country to participate in the ESU National Shakespeare Competition in April.
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Lexington ESU members were treated to a fascinating presentation and slideshow on April 4 by experimental gardener Paul Wilson. Wilson, a resident of Fairfield, Virginia spoke on the subject of "Capability Brown Comes to Fairfield". The lecture was followed by a buffet dinner held at the Lexington Country Club.
Wilson described how he has strived over the past 40 years to adopt on his Fairfield property some of the landscape gardening principles of Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Brown, an18th century English landscape architect, designed over 170 English gardens, many of which still endure. Brown's naturalistic style including broad sweeping lawns, serpentine lakes and strategically-placed trees. Wilson has toured many of Brown's gardens, and included photographs of them in his presentation. He also showed "before" and "after" photos of his property, showing a remarkable transformation over the past 40 years.
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With a performance of a sonnet and monologue from Shakespeare, Donna Boyd from Lexington, VA, a student of Janie Thames at Spotswood High School in Penn Laird, placed as a semi-finalist in the 34th annual English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition in New York City. The Competition took place on May 1, 2017 on the stage of the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center with 54 semi-finalists from as many ESU Branch competitions nationwide. Donna previously won the ESU Lexington Branch competition.
The winner of the 34th English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition, Ogechi Egonu, representing the San Francisco Branch, received a full scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp in Staunton, VA, this summer. Second place winner, Brandon Burk, from the Kentucky Branch, won a cash prize of $1,000 from The English-Speaking Union, while the third place winner, Trevon Wainwright, representing the Kansas City Branch of the ESU, received an award of $500 provided by The Shakespeare Society.
Click here to download the PDF version
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Lew John visits with ESU Lexington members before his speech
ESU Lexington member Dr. Lewis G. John, Professor of Politics Emeritus at Washington & Lee University, spoke to fellow members November 15 on the topic of "Brexit Revisited". The lecture followed a buffet dinner held in Moody Hall at Virginia Military Institute.
Dr. John outlined the evolution of the European Union, beginning with the European Economic Community which was founded after World War II. The United Kingdom had been a member of the EU for 42 years prior to this summer's unexpected vote to withdraw from the union. According to polls, migration and economic issues were the primary concern of "leave" voters.
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