30th Annual Shakespeare Competition

The Houston Branch of The English-Speaking Union will sponsor the 30th annual Shakespeare Competition, which is open to the winners of area high school Shakespeare competitions. Each student will perform a Shakespearean monologue of his or her choice and recite a sonnet. Competitors will be judged on their understanding of the texts and on their ability to communicate that understanding to an audience. Judges for the Branch Competition are Jim Johnson, professor at the University of Houston School of Theatre, Rutherford Cravens, film, T.V. and stage actor, and David Rainey, Alley Theatre actor and founder of The Landing Theater Company. Doors open for registration at 9 a.m. in the theatre of The Fine Arts Center and guests are asked to arrive before 9:30 a.m. when the competition begins. 

The winner of the ESU Houston Branch Competition will receive an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to represent the Branch in the ESU National Shakespeare Competition at the world-renowned Lincoln Center Mitzi Newhouse Theater on May 1, competing with 55 winners of other Branch competitions nationwide. Based on their performances, 7-10 students will advance to a final round. Those finalists, performing their selections along with a cold reading of a monologue, compete for the first-place award, which is an all-expense-paid scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Center’s summer Theater Camp in Staunton, VA.