Winners announced for the Kansas City Branch 2023 Shakespeare Competition

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Garden City, Kansas High School Student Wins First Place in ESU Kansas City Branch 2023 Shakespeare Competition

Garden City High School Student to Compete in the 40th English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition in New York City

Pierre Beatrix Madlangbayan, a junior from Garden City High School, Garden City, Kansas, achieved first place at The English-Speaking Union Kansas City Branch Shakespeare Competition held on February 19, 2023. Her sponsoring teachers are Alice Hilt and Robyn Hilt. Ms. Madlangbayan will receive an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to compete in the ESU National Competition on April 24, 2023 at Lincoln Center, where she will join more than 50 other contestants from around the country. The National Competition, virtual for the last three years because of COVID, returns to New York City for the semi-finals where each student will perform a monologue and sonnet before a panel of distinguished judges as well as their fellow contestants. Based on their performances, ten students will advance to a final round.  

After winning competitions at their high schools, eleven students competed in the Branch Competition held at the Kansas City Public Library's Truman Auditorium. Approximately 100 students and teachers participated in preliminary high school competitions. Max Markovich, a junior from Paola High School, Paola, Kansas, earned second place, and Alyssa Maas, a sophomore from Salina Central High School, Salina, Kansas, was awarded third place in the ESU Kansas City Branch Competition. 

Each student performed a Shakespearean monologue of their choice and recited a sonnet. Competitors were judged on their understanding of their selected texts and on their ability to communicate their interpretation to the audience. Ms. Madlangbayan, impressed the judges by  performing a monologue of the character Mark Antony from the play Julius Caesar and reciting a Shakespeare sonnet. 

The ESU Kansas City Branch Competition judges were Sidonie Garrett, Executive Artistic Director of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Melinda McCreary, Director of Education and Community Programs at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Mark Robbins, a professional actor and director with more than 170 professional roles to his credit.

Ms. Madlangbayan's First-Place prize package from the ESU Kansas City Branch includes a check for $150, a full scholarship to the Shakespeare Exploration Camp offered by the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, a Certificate of Appreciation, and an engraved First Place Medallion.

The 2023 National Shakespeare Competition prizes are: 

1st Place National Winner: A scholarship to attend the British American Drama Academy Mid-Summer Conservatory Program.

2nd Place National Winner: A Scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp in Staunton, VA.

3rd Place National Winner: $1000

Two previous ESU Kansas City Branch winners have won First Place in the National Shakespeare Competition in New York City. One past Kansas City Branch winner won Second Place in the National Competition and, in 2017, Trevon Wainwright from Paseo Academy won Third Place in the National Finals. 

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