Long Wharf Theatre & Yale Repertory Theatre Will Host New Haven Regional August Wilson Monologue Competition

Long Wharf Theatre (Jacob G. Padrón, Artistic Director; Kit Ingui, Managing Director), in collaboration with Yale Repertory Theatre (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director), will host the 2020 New Haven Regional August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC). The Regional Competition will be presented on Monday, February 24, 2020 at 7 PM at Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT 06511. Fifteen participants from the Greater New Haven Area, Hartford County, and Fairfield County, will compete to win all-expense paid trip to the National Competition in NYC where the top two will perform on a Broadway stage, see a Broadway play, and have a chance to win college scholarships. The National Competition will take place in May 4, 2020 at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre.

"The goal of the competition is to build partnerships with schools and theaters across the United States, and to create educational materials about August Wilson that allow students to connect these important theatre works with educational curricula like history, social studies and literature," said Todd Kreidler, Associate Artistic Director, Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. "This monologue competition offers students of all races the opportunity to inhabit the lives and speak the words of these vital, lively characters."

For New Haven's third year participating, Long Wharf Theatre and Yale Rep offered a workshop series for participating schools, free master classes for students whose schools are not involved and for those who would like additional coaching time and added a professional development day for teachers. "We were delighted this year to strengthen our programming by bringing in the Director of Education at True Colors Theatre, Nikki Toombs, to give our teachers an entry point to teaching August Wilson's work to students of all backgrounds. Her passion for the work and human approach to character analysis gave our teachers insight into how to engage all students in the American Century Cycle. We were also honored and inspired by the work of Nicole Brewer, who taught our teachers and staff about Conscientious Theatre Training, a practice that creates anti-racist theatre." Said Madelyn Ardito, Director of Learning at Long Wharf Theatre.

This national program is produced in collaboration between Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre and Jujamcyn Theatre. The program is now in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Haven, New York, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Dallas, and Greensboro. Long Wharf Theatre and Yale Rep are thrilled to continue Wilson's legacy and to honor his rich history in Connecticut. The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center helped establish Wilson as a major voice in American theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre is renowned for staging six world premieres of Wilson's work.