6th Grade Shakespeare Showcase 2026 program page by page

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2026

JCDS CLASS OF 2028 SHAKESPEARE SHOWCASE AS YOU LIKE IT – “ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE” MONOLOGUE Jaques..........Gil Hoffman MACBETH – ACT I, SCENE I The Weird Sisters..........Ariella Badik, Lailah Chunnha, & Meirav Migdal Macbeth..........Oren Spira Banquo.........Aaron Khodor Tolan T WELFTH NIGHT – ACT II, SCENE IV Orsino..........Benjamin Robinson Viola..........Ami Cutler MACBETH – ACT V, SCENE I Lady Macbeth..........Gaby Klebenov Doctor..........Marco Muñoz Gentlewoman..........Eliana Weisberg MACBETH – “SOUND AND FURY” MONOLOGUE Macbeth..........Rafi Finkelstein ROMEO AND JULIET – ACT II, SCENE II Romeo..........Reuben Bennett Juliet..........Eliana Strelnikov A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – CLOSING MONOLOGUE Puck..........Zach Tavan

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DIRECTOR’S NOTE Shakespeare is often referred to as the greatest playwright who ever lived. His plays have been performed in more countries, in more languages and by more actors than any other playwright.

And yet witnessing his words performed in the language he wrote them in, English, still brings a special charge to any audience lucky enough to experience them. There is no singular playwright who gives greater understanding and insight into the triumph and tragedy, hilarity and vulgarity of the human condition through the gift of the spoken English word.

Today you will witness this gift through a selection of scenes from Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Whether through some of the darkest of Shakespeare’s tragedies (Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet), or his most side splitting of comedies (Twelfth Night, As You Like It), we invite you to lean into the love of language that the students at JCDS used to dive headlong into this extraordinary rehearsal process.

Over the last few months, I have been honored to work with students who are so deeply engaged, curious, and brave in working on the Bard’s text and I am thrilled for them to share their unique takes on these timeless characters with you.

We hope you enjoy the 6th Grade Shakespeare Showcase!

— Jesse Garlick, 6th Grade Shakespeare Director JCDS Class of 2006

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A FEW NOTES ABOUT THE SCENES… AS YOU LIKE IT – ACT II, SCENE VII – “ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE” (JACQUES) In this play, the Forest of Arden is where many characters find refuge, shelter, and love. Duke Senior is currently living there because he was exiled by his power-hungry brother, Duke Frederick. He was joined by many nobles who remained loyal to him. Jacques is one of the nobles who followed Duke Senior to the Forest of Arden when he was exiled. He is a very melancholy person, if not by nature then by aspiring to be. In this monologue, taking place at a dinner, he muses on the cycle of life and how it is divided into acts, with everyone playing their roles.

MACBETH – ACT I, SCENE I ( THE WEIRD SISTERS, MACBETH, BANQUO) Three Witches appear, each sharing their devilish exploits and accomplishments, while also signaling they will soon meet with Scottish general Macbeth. Macbeth arrives, with his best friend and lieutenant Banquo in tow, and is set upon by the three witches, who prophesy that Macbeth will soon rise to become king. However, the witches also foretell that Banquo’s children will be kings, confusing Macbeth and Banquo before leaving them to discuss what they have just seen. Banquo and Macbeth confer on the merits of the witches prophecy with Macbeth choosing patience before leaving with Banquo.

T WELFTH NIGHT – ACT II, SCENE IV (ORSINO, VIOLA) Orsino asks Cesario (who is really Viola in disguise) for a song to relieve his love-longing. In conversation about the capacities for love in men and in women, Viola expresses her love for Orsino through a story about “Cesario’s sister.” Orsino becomes curious about this sister’s fate, but then turns back to his own longings and sends Cesario once again to visit 4

Olivia.

MACBETH – ACT V, SCENE I (LADY MACBETH, DOCTOR, GENTLEWOMAN) Lady Macbeth was one of the driving forces behind her husband’s murder of the old king, Duncan, and his ascension to the throne.

However, she could not predict how much her husband’s ambition and bloodlust would grow, and has gone insane from guilt and regret, particularly about the slaying of their friend Banquo at Macbeth’s command. Try as she might, she can’t seem to free her mind (and hands) of the blood that she has helped spill.

MACBETH – ACT V, SCENE V – “SOUND AND FURY” (MACBETH) Macbeth has found himself at a point where he is at war with former friends and fellow soldiers who are pursuing him to avenge Duncan’s murder and crown Duncan’s son Malcolm as the rightful King of Scotland. At the same time, Lady Macbeth’s guilt has driven her to insanity and destroyed her mental and physical health, and she succumbs to her madness. Macbeth, now at a point where he has lost everything, reflects on where his life has ended up and seems to accept his fate. By the end of the play, Macbeth will be defeated and beheaded by the soldier Macduff, and Malcolm will take the crown as the rightful King of Scotland.

ROMEO & JULIET – ACT II, SCENE II (ROMEO, JULIET ) In Verona, two powerful families, the Capulets and the Montagues, have such a fierce rivalry that they fight and shed blood in the streets whenever they encounter each other, leading to a threat of punishment from the Prince. Romeo, the son of the Montague family, decides to sneak into a Capulet party to see Rosaline, a girl he has a crush on. Instead, he encounters the Capulet’s daughter, Juliet.

Despite realizing that their families are enemies, the two fall in love. In this scene, Romeo has snuck back to the Capulet mansion to see Juliet again, despite the risk of being caught and killed by her family. The teens decide to get married in secret, as they will never get approval from their respective families.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – CLOSING MONOLOGUE (PUCK) After everything that has happened in the play, Puck leaves the audience with the idea that if this all seemed too wild or fantastical for them, they can imagine that the events they just witnessed were just a dream. Puck wishes them thanks, and promises that their applause will send them back into their normal lives.

THE CAST ARIELLA BADIK AS WEIRD SISTER #3 Ariella is excited to be playing the third witch. When she isn’t in the Shakespeare world, she is probably dancing, baking, or reading.

Ariella also likes hanging out with her friends and family. She would like to thank her scenemates for helping to bring her character to life and her friends for running lines with her.

REUBEN BENNETT AS ROMEO Reuben is Jewish student at Boston’s very own Jewish Community Day School. Do not let this fool you into believing he is not British.

He is a Brit through and through. This is his first time acting, but not his first time pretending to be doing something he isn’t. He is hopefully hopeful that he will not mess up any single one of his lines.

In Reuben’s free time, he enjoys math, soccer, and reading. He is thankful for his sister (whom he sometimes calls bro) and parents (whom he definitely never calls bro) for being very supportive.

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LAILAH CHUNNHA AS WEIRD SISTER #2 Lailah Chunnha is so excited to be the second witch! She thanks all of her classmates for not calling her a psychopath. Lailah would also like to thank Dazzle from Sun and Moon Show for her positive and candid attitude. Lastly, Lailah would like to thank herself for not getting distracted when she memorized her lines.

AMI CUTLER AS VIOLA Ami is a student at JCDS who is playing Viola. She has enjoyed learning her lines and watching the play come together. In her free time she likes to sit in the freezer and when she is not in the freezer she likes to jump out of cabinets and scare people. She would like to thank Jesse and Josh for helping her understand what she is saying.

She would also like to thank her dogs for all their love.

RAFI FINKELSTEIN AS MACBETH (MONOLOGUE) Rafi is incredibly excited to play Macbeth in the 6th grade Shakespeare performance! While he has hardly any experience, he considers himself to have a natural talent for acting. His hobbies include playing on his Nintendo Switch, reading, and cuddling with his puppy, Zoey. He would like to thank his parents, Sara and David, who have been supportive of him from the start.

GIL HOFFMAN AS JACQUES Gil Hoffman is a growing, 11 year old boy who’s very excited to play Jacques, even if he has no scene partners. He has a lot of different accents and voices, is often very positive and social, and may or may not geek out about tech when he’s done doing his lines backstage.

He’s a good friend, is ready to come up on stage strong and ready to do his part well, and can’t wait to be the first face for everyone to see in this Shakespeare play. He’s come to be more excited rather than afraid, and he’s very confident in his role and confident in embodying Jaques. Additionally, Gil thanks Jesse for helping him improve his acting skills.

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AARON KHODOR-TOLAN AS BANQUO The human being known as Aaron is friends with a great deal of people and acquaintances with many more. Aaron also refers to himself in the 3rd and 2nd person like so. You’d also like to thank Ariella, Meirav, Lailah, and Oren for being awesome scene partners to you, and Jesse Garlick and Josh Mocle for being great directors to Aaron. You have one more sentence to kill so you will use it to refer to yourself in the 2nd person.

GABRIELA MAYA KLEBENOV AS LADY MACBETH Gabriela (AKA Gaby) is so excited to play Lady Macbeth in the sixth grade Shakespeare Showcase. Gaby loves theater and musicals, and has been in various plays, such as The Addams Family, Grease, Mamma Mia, and more. When not being in plays, Gaby loves to practice ballet, modern, jazz and more dance styles. She also immensely enjoys being up in silks, trapeze, and lyras, as well as being with friends and lots of social activities. Lastly, she would like to thank our exquisite directors, Josh and Jesse, for whom these plays wouldn’t be possible without, and everyone who helped her memorize lines, including Sarah and Julia, although they started wrestling each other because one was chewing bubblegum too loudly.

MEIRAV MIGDAL AS WEIRD SISTER #1 Meirav was very excited to find out that she was going to play one of the 3 witches, specifically Witch 1. She has done several summers of theater camp including a role as the Cook in Matilda. When she is not running lines with her friends she enjoys reading, watching her favorite TV shows, making art and baking sweet treats. She loves spending quality time with her sisters and extended family. Meirav would like to thank her family for being so supportive of her. She would also like to thank her friends for helping her add her own personality to this amazing role. She and the rest of the 6th grade hope you enjoy this amazing show.

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MARCO MUÑOZ AS THE DOCTOR I’m Marco. I like my role. It’s very easy to play because there’s not many lines and the Doctor never larps and shows positive aura and is just so nonchalant like +10000000000000000000000 aura. The Doctor’s role is just like that and I’m just like that. I hope you enjoy how I act because I’m just the best actor. Thanks to myself for being the goat and being so nonchalant and having so much aura but also thanks to my dad who taught me how to act. I hope you guys enjoy the show.

BENJAMIN ROBINSON AS ORSINO Benjamin is very excited to play Orsino in this year’s Shakespeare play. He is very passionate about math and this is his first time acting.

When he is not doing math you just know he is also not practicing for Shakespeare. He would also like to thank Jesse and Josh for helping him get comfortable with his lines and his acting.

OREN SPIRA AS MACBETH (SCENE) Long long ago in an ancient land, a powerful wizard chose me (Oren) to play the magnificent role of Macbeth in the play of the Scottish king. In my training to become an actor, I encountered a talking walrus, a skin walker, and a giga chad bird. They all tote me important talents like moon walking, fake killing, throwing chairs, and hacking cows. After all my training I was given the title of thane of goofyness and was able to act. I would like to thank my master (the wizard), my parents, and friends for supporting me and helping me with my lines and acting.

ELIANA STRELNIKOV AS JULIET Eliana is super happy to be playing Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. She loves chatting with her friends and playing D&D. This is her second time doing a play but the first time she was on stage crew so this will be her first actual time on stage. She would love to thank her amazing mother (Rivka) for being supportive and encouraging about the role and for helping Eliana with her lines.

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ZACH TAVAN AS PUCK Zach was fortunate enough to have a mythical genie banana who told him that he was going to play Puck from A Midsummer Night Dream in the Shakespeare Showcase. The thing he wished he knew sooner was that during rehearsal he would have elephants, pluto and annoying little gremlins (Eliana S.) thrown at him. The thing he liked the most was that he got a belt called the Belt of the 4th and got super powers. Finally he would like to thank his parents for waking him up and packing his lunch.

ELIANA WEISBERG AS GENTLEWOMAN Eliana is very excited to play the part of the Gentlewoman. Although she would rather be a tree in the background, she is pretty excited.

When she is not in the Shakespeare World, you can find her being with her friends, on the basketball court and rock climbing. She wants to thank Josh and Jessie for putting up with her craziness and hope they can forgive her.

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JCDS CLASS OF 2028 SHAKESPEARE SHOWCASE Directed by Jesse Garlick Produced by Joshua Mocle Program Cover Art by: Gil Hoffman and Ariella Badik Special Thanks to Jo-Ann Figueroa, Joanne Baker, Meg Lederman, Shari Levitz, Robert Neumann, Aryeh Levitz, & each and every 6th Grade Parent!

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