The August Wilson Monologue Competition
Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company is proud to present the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue
Competition for Greater Metro Atlanta area high school students, grades 9-12. This competition, coordinated by
True Colors Theatre’s Director of Education, Nikki Toombs, focuses on the plays of August Wilson’s American
Century Cycle, which chronicle the African American experience through the 20th century. Each play is set in a
different decade and is filled with soaring, lyrical monologues that take the song, laughter, pain, and rich content
of African American life and places it in the mouths of the greatest and varied ensemble of characters written
since Shakespeare.
The inspiration for the competition was sparked by two of August Wilson’s closest living collaborators, Kenny
Leon and Todd Kreidler. Kenny Leon, the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Kenny Leon’s True Colors
Theatre Company, worked closely with Wilson; directing most of the American Century Cycle plays on
Broadway and at regional theatres. Todd Kreidler, former Associate Artistic Director for Kenny Leon’s True
Colors Theatre Company, was Dramaturge for Wilson’s last play and Director of his one-man show. As a result,
both have intimate knowledge of August Wilson as an artist and as a person.
According to Kreidler, “The goal of the competition is to help garner partnerships with communities, schools and theaters across the United States, and to create educational materials about August Wilson that allow students, of all races, to connect these
important theatre works with educational curricula like history, social studies and literature.”
Each student will perform a 1-3 minute monologue of their choosing from one of the ten plays in August
Wilson’s Century Cycle. The selection can be a written speech or dialogue taken from one character within a
scene, but should include a point-of-entry into the character and a personal connection to the selected material.
Contestants will be judged by a panel of Atlanta theatre professionals on the basis of preparedness, understanding
of the text, emotional connection to the material, and commitment to the performance.
True Colors also offers free acting workshops and a compendium for teachers in order to prepare participants for the competition.
Due to the tremendous growth of the program, there will be seven days of preliminary competition, followed by a
semi-final and final round.
The semi-finals will be held on February 17, 2018, where 10-15 students will advance to the final round on March 2, 2018.
Students will receive a program t-shirt and recognition of participation, while the top three regional contestants will be awarded scholarships.
The 1st and 2nd place Atlanta winners will be provided free airfare and hotel accommodations to New York City and potentially compete nationally. While there, each will have the opportunity to win a national scholarship, perform in front of college recruiters, and
attend a Broadway play.
This year’s national competition will take place on May 7th, 2018 at the August Wilson Theatre in New York.
Applications are currently available online at tinyurl.com/AWMC2017-18app. For more information, visit
truecolorstheatre.org or contact Adrie Keaton, Education Coordinator at (404) 532-1901, ext. 214 and
education@truecolorstheatre.org.
