Jasper Ling’s Shakespeare Shines on the National Stage

When Jasper Ling ’28 performs the Porter’s monologue from Macbeth, you can see the exact moment when he drops into character. After introducing himself to the judges of the English Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition, he takes a deep breath, stills his body for a few moments, and then comically pitches and sways as he begins to embody the inebriated castle gatekeeper.

The experience of bringing a character to life for an audience is just one of the many reasons that Ling is passionate about acting and performance. He can trace his love of theatre back to Kindergarten, when he performed in his first play. Since then, Ling has performed in musicals and plays each year. He deeply enjoys the camaraderie of the student theatre community—its kindness and support—and has been delighted to find it wherever he goes. 

This was the case in April when he travelled to Lincoln Center in New York City to compete in the finals of the English Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition. The 39 students from across the country cheered each other on and happily bonded during two acting workshops, a Broadway play, and city tour in addition to the actual competition. They shared a special connection having bested over 15,000 other students to reach this pinnacle. 

Ling suspects that his selection of the porter’s monologue— a lesser known character in Macbeth— stood out for the judges. The character and scene are complex, being both comedic and sinister, Ling explained. Judges also look for a deep understanding of the language and the ability to convey that to the audience. 

His affinity for Shakespeare started in seventh grade when the class read A Midsummer’s Night's Dream. 

“Because of how I'd heard people talk about it, I imagined it was just a boring, kind of very drab plot. I didn't expect all of the mythology and comedy mixed with a sort of tragedy,” Ling said.

As You Like It was Ling’s next foray into Shakespeare.

“I also really enjoyed that one. I love the tragic comedies; they're really entertaining,” he said. “Shakespeare's voice is so unique and really doesn't feel like something that was coming out of his time, poking fun at the classes and the different types of people, he noted.”

Because Ling put extra time into analyzing and understanding Shakespeare’s language and the context surrounding the porter’s monologue, he had the stamina to succeed at the school level, and then the regional level to qualify for nationals in the Shakespeare competition. And while he didn’t make the final 10, he’s so grateful to have made it as far as he did. 

“I just kept saying throughout the weekend, ‘I really don't care how I do because this is such an incredible experience.’ It’s once in a lifetime that I'm performing at Lincoln Center.” 

We’ll see about that! 

Watch Jasper Ling’s performance at the ESU National Shakespeare Competition.