The August Wilson Monologue In-House Competition was held Friday, Jan. 11, after weeks of preparation that began before winter break.
August Wilson died in 2005. The 10 plays he wrote chronicle the African-American experience and are known as the Century Cycle. His plays have won a Tony (Jitney) and two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama (Fences, The Piano Lesson).
Shenia Massey and Maggie McCulloch performed monologues from Radio Golf, G. Harvey performed a monologue from Gem of the Ocean, Dagny Rebhan performed a monologue from Seven Guitars, Ellen Yanko performed a monologue from Jitney, Nora Collins performed a monologue from The Piano Lesson and Bre Schmidt performed a monologue from Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Students in SEM’s theatre classes study August Wilson so were excited at the opportunity to do his monologues in competition. Congratulations to all for engrossing performances.
This is the second year SEM theater teacher Susan Drozd has organized SEM’s participation in the competition which began in 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. Is went national when it expanded to New York City and Pittsburgh. It is only second year it is in Buffalo and it’s still only in a handful of U.S. cities. We are honored to participate.
Freshman Nora was declared winner and sophomore G. Harvey is alternate. They will go on to learn in workshops a the Paul Robson Theatre to prepare for the Buffalo Regional Finals on February 9 which is a competition with students from all over the city. The National Finals are in NYC, May 4-7.