5th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition Chicago Finals Set for Goodman Theatre, 3/10

The August Wilson Monologue Competition, sponsored by The League of Chicago Theatres, Goodman Theatre, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and organized in Chicago by Derrick Sanders, will hold the Chicago Finals on Monday, March 10, 2014 at 6:00pm at the Goodman Theatre, 170 North Dearborn St - the first theatre in the world to produce all ten plays in the Century Cycle, Wilson's decade-by-decade exploration of the 20th century African American experience.

Esteemed judges for the Chicago finals include Alana Arenas, Regina Taylor, Lydia Diamond and Anthony Irons. 20 finalists selected from more than 230 participants across 25 Chicago area schools have advanced to the Chicago finals and will compete for the top three spots in the National finals. The National finals will take place on May 5, 2014 at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.

"The quality of preparation and performances by these young people from across Chicago and the suburbs was extremely impressive. It's inspiring to see these next-generation artists experiencing and expressing August's words with such passion and skill. We're thrilled by the twenty young people chosen to compete in this year's finals." says Derrick Sanders.

The 20 Chicago finalists are Shea Glover, Joseph Brown and Bri Palmer of CHIARTS; Amber Ortiz, Shifa Zhong and Jahleigh Bullie of Gallery 37 Advanced Arts Education; Sejahari Saulter-Villegas, Kenneth Hastings and Robert Uptown of Kenwood Academy; Amber Mitchell and Danyelle Monson of King College Prep; Kiah McKirnan, Candace Spates, Corbin Ford and Daniel Moltz of Lincoln Park High School; Clarissa Troncoso, Julio Munoz and Justus Eason of Schurz; and Charnnia Jones and Janessa Colquitt of Southland College Prep.

The August Wilson Monologue Competition is a national competition open to all high school students. The top three monologues from among the Chicago contestants will be awarded scholarships in the amount of $500 for first place, $250 for second place and $100 for third place. Each of the three winning students will also have expenses paid to travel to New York City for the national finals. Students are asked to perform a 2-3 minute monologue of their choosing from one of the ten plays in August Wilson's Century Cycle.

Participation in the national finals in NYC on May 5, 2014 includes a weekend of activities around the competition. National prizes include scholarships of $1000 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for honorable mention.

Open to Chicago area high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, the August Wilson Monologue Competition focuses on exposing students to the richness of August Wilson's Century Cycle, and incorporating the plays into the standard high school curriculum. The AWMC Chicago Preliminaries were held February 4, 2014 at Court Theatre and February 5, 2014 at Victory Gardens. The Semi-finals were held February 10, 2014 at University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Theatre and Music. Regional competitions will also take place in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Boston, and New York.

Chicago's participation in this national event is coordinated by Derrick Sanders, who hopes to continue building robust partnerships with schools across Chicago, encouraging the adoption of August Wilson's work into the standard curriculum. These partnerships create educational opportunities that allow students to connect to August Wilson and his work through the study of history, social studies and literature.

For more information on the Chicago competition, visit: http://chicagoplays.com/august-wilson-monologue-competition.html.

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