CTG Opens Registration for 2016 August Wilson Monologue Competition; Deadline 10/22

Center Theatre Group has announced that registration is now open for the 2016 August Wilson Monologue Competition, which gives students of all backgrounds, ethnicities and experience levels a chance to dive into Wilson's Pulitzer-Prize winning work. This is CTG's fifth year serving as the Southern California home to the competition, as well as facilitator of the August Wilson In-School Residency program.

The competition is open to students in grades 10, 11 and 12 from Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties who are currently enrolled in public, private, charter or home school.

Each student selects a monologue to perform from Wilson's 10-play "Century Cycle," which details the complexity of the African-American experience in the 20th century. The poetic language and realistic characters in Wilson's work bring alive universal truths that students of all backgrounds can relate to.

"The characters speak like people we know, in our communities and in our families. Students get excited that theatre can be a representation of what they have seen and heard in their own lives," said Leslie K. Johnson, Director of Education and Community Partnerships.

Students are encouraged to pick a monologue that excites or inspires them, or a character with whom they can connect.

CTG views each step of the competition as an opportunity for students to learn and grow as artists. After registration, students will attend an orientation meeting where theatre professionals will help them prepare for their auditions; they will also sign up for an audition time. All participants in the preliminary and semi-final auditions will receive notes and feedback from the program judges and advisors.

Preliminary auditions will take place on Saturday, November 14 at The Music Center Annex at 601 W. Temple Street in downtown L.A. 90012. Roughly 50 students will move on to the semi-final auditions which will take place on Saturday, December 12. Twelve regional finalists will then be chosen to participate in rehearsal and training sessions held at CTG and compete in the February 29, 2016, Los Angeles regional finals, held on the Mark Taper Forum stage.

The top three finalists will receive cash prizes and the top two will receive an all- expense paid trip to New York City to participate in the national competition, presented by True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters.

Students from all over the country participate in the national competition, whose partner cities include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh and Seattle. Each city runs its program differently but the goal is the same: to introduce high school students to August Wilson's works and help them find their own voices.

The inspiration for the AWMC was sparked in 2007 in Atlanta by Wilson's long-time collaborators Kenny Leon and Todd Kreidler of True Colors Theatre Company. Modeled after Pittsburgh Public Theater's annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest, the AWMC utilizes performance tools and text analysis to help students explore the interior lives of August Wilson's characters and study the social, economic and historical realities they inhabit.

CTG honors its long-standing relationship with August Wilson through its August Wilson In-School Residency Program, educator and student workshops and participation in the national monologue competition as well as through its continued production of Wilson's work. CTG has presented eight of Wilson's plays, including two world premiere productions of his work. In August 2016, Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" will be presented at the Mark Taper Forum.

To register for the competition, and to receive more information, fill out the interest form online at CenterTheatreGroup.org/AugustWilson. Registration forms are due Thursday, October 22.

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