National August Wilson Monologue Competition

National August Wilson Monologue Competition

The National August Wilson Monologue Competition was a celebration of the words of the playwright August Wilson, inspiring high school students to find and express themselves through theatre:

“Theatre can do that. It can disseminate ideas, it can educate even the miseducated, because it is art – and all art reaches across that divide that makes order our of chaos, and embraces the truth that overwhelms with its presence, and connects man to something larger than himself and his imagination.”
– August Wilson, “The Ground on Which I Stand”

The National August Wilson Monologue Competition was founded in 2007 by True Colors Artistic Director Emeritus Kenny Leon and then-Associate Artistic Director Todd Kreidler. Kenny and Todd, both of whom worked very closely with August Wilson, conceived of the program to honor his legacy and to ensure that his work remained alive across the generations. Working along side Dr. Shondrika Moss Bouldin, former Director of Education, Kenny and Todd initially introduced the program into one school in Atlanta. The program has since grown to include nineteen regions, including Atlanta (GA), Boston (MA), Buffalo (NY), Chicago (IL), Dallas (TX), E. Lansing (MI)*, Greensboro (NC), Hampton Roads (VA), Las Vegas (NV), Los Angeles (CA), Maryland*, Milwaukee (WI), New Haven (CT), New York (NY), Pittsburgh (PA), Portland (OR), San Diego (CA), Seattle (WA), and Urbana-Champaign (IL)*.