About three years ago, when I was still teaching, a new student walked into my AP Sophomore English class. Don't ask how but I knew he was a special person. Kristen Knighten is his name, all around awesomeness is his game.
I loved having Kirsten in class because he always exceeded my expections, which were ridiculously high for an AP class already. His creativity blew me away so much that, when it came time to present his Julius Caesar project, I told our Theater teacher, Amy Ritchie, that she really needed to see him. Amy and Kirsten talked and that was the beginning of his career in theater.
Kirsten won our school's Shakespeare monologue competition (with the "unkindest cut of all" monologue from JC) and went on to the regional competition to be recognized by the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. He was invited to be part of Shakespeare in Central Park modern production of Twelfth Night. Pretty awesome accomplishment!
On Thursday July 17, several teachers from Waggener, along with many of his peers, met in Central Park to watch Kirsten's professional debut. As if watching Shakespeare outdoors amongst the stars being serenaded by the crickets isn't incredible enough, it couldn't trump seeing Kirsten wowing the audience as the Duke. I am so proud of him and know that I'll be seeing many more of his productions in the future!
A big thanks to Amber for risking arrest to get these pictures!
