WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION OF THE UNITED STATES’ NATIONAL SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION |
The National Shakespeare Competition, sponsored by The English-Speaking Union of the United States, was held during the weekend of April 22-24 at Lincoln Center in New York City. The winner of the competition was Anne Thompson, from Indianapolis; the runner up was Clint Johnson, from Albany, New York; and third place went to Kenneth Nole from Chicago.
“Hast any man done greater service to the English language than Shakespeare? Wethinks not,” wrote Mayor Bloomberg, as he proclaimed Monday, April 24, 2006 William Shakespeare Day “in recognition of the talent of the students, the selflessness of their parents and teachers, and the genius of Shakespeare.”
Emmy Award-winning actress Cynthia Nixon headlined the panel of distinguished judges for this year’s National Shakespeare Competition, joining a roster that has included Helen Hayes, Sam Waterston, Blythe Danner, Christopher Reeve, Jesse L. Martin, Phylicia Rashad, Richard Thomas, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Also judging this year was Founder and Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Tina Packer.
Early in the morning of Monday April 24th the 58 semi-finalists, chosen from among 16,000 student competitors in communities throughout the United States, each presented their chosen Shakespeare monologue and sonnet before the panel of judges onstage at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center.
Ten students were chosen to compete in the final round Monday evening from 5 PM to 7 PM for an audience which included judges, family members and teachers who traveled to New York with their students, English-Speaking Union members and supporters, and an incredibly
enthusiastic contingent of fellow competitors. “Winners and losers become unimportant as we all come to terms with our undeniable addiction to the craft,” said Ms. Kim Rosen, a former national semi-finalist from Boston.
More than 200,000 high school students in cities and towns throughout America have competed in the National Shakespeare Competition since it began as a New York City event in 1983 and became a national competition in 1988. Each year, English-Speaking Union Branches conduct initial rounds of the Competition in local high schools, followed by community-wide competitions to select winners who then travel to New York City for the National semi-final and final rounds in April.
The English-Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition encourages students to achieve a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s works and the expressive power of the English language through the process of selecting, understanding, memorizing, and expressing the meaning of a monologue and a sonnet in an interpretive presentation.
First prize in the National Shakespeare Competition was a scholarship sponsored by the British American Drama Academy to study classical acting in London for four weeks during the summer of 2006. The second-place prize was a check for $1,000, and the third-place prize was a check for $500 from The Shakespeare Society.
Founded in 1920, The English-Speaking Union of the United States has 10,000 members in 75 cities dedicated to promoting scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community. The English Speaking Union is a non-profit, non-political educational organization supporting international scholarships and exchanges, awards in education and literature, educational opportunities for teachers and students, and language instruction for non-native English speakers. It is a member of a growing, global confederation of English-Speaking Unions in 52 nations.
Click here to view pictures of the winners and judges.
Click here for more information on the National Shakespeare Competition.
