No Translation Needed at Polyglot Show
One look at the program and the audience knew what to expect. Or did they?
“The Festival of Performances With No English,” this year’s Polyglot show, hosted by the Department of Performing Arts, played to a full house in the Experimental Theater during Family Weekend.
From poetry to dance and music, performers understood the assignment: The sky was the limit, but no English allowed.
“Polyglot is an all-inclusive, welcoming and fun schoolwide event,” said Beth Manspeizer, Polyglot faculty advisor and upper school theater teacher. “It was great to see so many people from the Masters community come out to perform.”
A delightful trio of emcees kept the crowd entertained throughout the show. Kseniia Lukianenko ’26 spoke in Ukranian, Laura Peralta ’27 chatted in Spanish and Annette Choi ’26 communicated in Korean.
“We came together to think of ways we could send a message to the audience despite speaking three different languages,” Choi explained. “We created fun skits about being in a band and not being good, and I think it ended up translating fantastically. And fun fact: We translated the script during the show. We wrote the script in English, but the translations into our individual languages were on the spot!”
Dean of Global Studies and upper school languages teacher Abdoulaye Ngom stepped up to the microphone and recited three of his own poems titled “Temps Sombres” (Dark Times).
“I chose to share poems written in a foreign language and invite those who don't know French to enjoy the reading, and those who do to connect with the poems with a deeper reflection about challenges human beings are facing today and the world in general, while encouraging them to approach them with a positive energy,” he said.
Guitarist and vocalist William Sun ’26 got the audience moving to the beat with fellow seniors Xing Lyu, Sophia Ding, Eric Ti and Mohan Zhang during two performances when they covered Mandarin pop songs “Clear Day" by Jay Chou and “Back to Back” by JJ Lin.
“I think this show demonstrates Masters’ inclusivity of different cultures as an international school,” said Sun, who appreciated how everyone cheered for each other, even though they may not have understood everything that the performers were saying.
Ngom added, “We are living in a global world, so any activity that fosters intercultural connection should be strongly encouraged, especially among young people who will be the leaders of tomorrow.”
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