Chicago Finalists Announced for 6th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition

The League of Chicago Theatres, Goodman Theatre, the University of Illinois at Chicago and competition organizer Derrick Sanders announce the top three Chiacgo finalists of the 6th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition:

- Lawren Carter from Nicholas Senn High School (first place, performed Berniece, The Piano Lesson)
- Casey Edwards from Chicago High School for the Arts (second place, performed Booster, Jitney)
- Booker Vance from Kenwood Academy High School (third place, performed Memphis, Two Trains Running).

The top three Chicago finalists were awarded scholarships in the amount of $500, $250 and $100, respectively. Each of the three winning students will receive expenses paid to travel to New York City for the National Finals, where they will compete on May 5, 2015.

Esteemed judges for the Chicago finals were August Wilson's daughter Sakina Ansari Wilson, Jeff Award-winning director Ron OJ Parson, former August Wilson Broadway stage manager and Associate Professor, DePaul University, Narda Alcorn and notable playwright and actress Regina Taylor.

The August Wilson Monologue Competition is a national competition open to all high school students. For the Chicago and National competition, students perform a 2-3 minute monologue of their choosing from one of the ten plays in August Wilson's Century Cycle.

Derrick Sanders comments, "The August Wilson Monologue Competition is important to Chicago students in so many ways -- it inspires them to read the works on August Wilson, it gives them the understanding of the text and the confidence and skills to perform the words. Now in our 6th year, I am so proud of the dedication of Chicago students to learn the works of this important playwright. In fact, Chicago is the only city to have finalists in the top three at National Finals every year since the competition's inception. We are very proud of all of the participating students and we wish the Lawren, Casey and Booker the best of luck as they represent Chicago at the Nationals."

This year, 700 students participated in the Chicago competition through in-school or after school programs. Three hundred students competed in the preliminary round, sixty-four students advanced to the semi-finalists and twenty students competed in the final round in Chicago.

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 9-11, 2015 at Court Theatre and Victory Gardens. The Semi-finals were held February 23, 2015 at University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Theatre and Music. Regional competitions will also take place in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, Portland 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.

The 2015 August Wilson Monologue Competition is part of the Spring 2015 citywide career retrospective, The August Wilson Celebration (March 7 - April 18), which celebrates the late playwright's artistry and influence on American culture. Goodman Theatre Resident Director Chuck Smith, together with Parson, Constanza Romero (Wilson's widow) and Dr. Harvey Young (Northwestern University), curates the celebration in partnership with more than 20 theaters, schools and organizations to present FREE concert (script-in-hand) readings of the plays in the "Century Cycle" -- Wilson's decade-by-decade exploration of the 20th century African American experience-plus educational seminars, discussions, poetry and more. Smith directs a major revival of one of the plays, Two Trains Running, at the Goodman, March 7 - April 12 (tickets $27 - $80). The Goodman is the first theatre in the world to produce all ten plays in the Century Cycle.

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

Chicago theatre is the leader in the U.S. with more than 250 theatres throughout Chicagoland, comprising a rich and varied community ranging from storefront, non-union theaters to the most renowned resident theatres in the country, including 5 that have been honored with Regional Tony Awards, and the largest touring Broadway organization in the nation. Chicago's theatres serve 5 million audience members annually and have a combined budget of more than $250 million. Chicago produces and/or presents more world premieres annually than any other city in the nation. In 2009-10 alone, Chicago theatre companies produced more than 130 world premiere productions and adaptations. Each year, Chicago theatres send new work to resident theatres across the country, to Broadway, and around the world.

The League of Chicago Theatres is an alliance of theatres which leverages its collective strength to promote, support, and advocate for Chicago's theatre industry locally, nationally, and internationally. The League of Chicago Theatres Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the art of theatre in the Chicago area through audience development and support services for theatres and theatre professionals. For more information, www.chicagoplays.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.