2024 Shakespeare Competition Winners Announced

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Garden City, Kansas Senior Wins First Place For Second Consecutive Year

The Kansas City Branch of the English-Speaking Union is excited to announce the winners of its 40th annual Shakespeare Competition held on February 25, 2024. Pierre Madlangbayan, a senior from Garden City High School, Garden City, Kansas, has won the ESU Kansas City Branch Shakespeare Competition for a second consecutive year--the first time that a student has repeated as the Branch winner since the Kansas City Branch began participating in the ESU Competition in 1984.

Q Duxler, a senior from Salina Central High School, Salina, Kansas, was the runner-up, and Tristan Jenkins, a sophomore from Olathe South High School, Olathe, Kansas, came in third place. Alice Hilt and Robyn Hilt are the teachers that sponsored the competition at Garden City High School; Barbara Hilt and Trey Cullins sponsored the competition at Salina Central High School; and David Tate Hastings sponsored the competition at Olathe South High School. Prior to the Branch Competition, over 100 students, teachers, and volunteers participated in preliminary competitions at nine high schools in the Kansas City Branch's region, which is the entire State of Kansas and western Missouri.

 Ms. Madlangbayan impressed the judges with her performance of the character Emilia's monologue in Shakespeare's play Othello and her recitation of one of Shakespeare's sonnets. The ESU Kansas City Branch and the ESU will pay expenses up to $1,850 for Ms. Madlangbayan and a parent to travel to New York City in April for ESU's National Shakespeare Competition. As the winner of the Kansas City Branch Competition, Ms. Madlangbayan has also been awarded a full scholarship to Shakespeare Exploration, a summer camp of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.

The Kansas City Branch Competition took place in the Truman Auditorium at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.  The judges for the Branch Competition were Sidonie Garrett, Executive Artistic Director of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, who has directed 20 of Shakespeare's plays; Melinda McCrary, Director of Education at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, who has been an actor and director in numerous plays, including over 20 productions of Shakespeare's plays; and Mark Robbins, a founding member of the Kansas City Actors Theatre, who has more than 170 professional directing and acting roles to his credit, including title roles in productions of Shakespeare's plays. 

On April 15, 2024, 44 Branch Winners, including Ms. Madlangbayan, will compete in ESU National Shakespeare Competition at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in Lincoln Center in New York. The 2024 prizes for the National Competition are as follows:

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

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

The Kansas City Branch Competition took place in the Truman Auditorium at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.  The judges for the Branch Competition were Sidonie Garrett, Executive Artistic Director of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, who has directed 20 of Shakespeare's plays; Melinda McCrary, Director of Education at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, who has been an actor and director in numerous plays, including over 20 productions of Shakespeare's plays; and Mark Robbins, a founding member of the Kansas City Actors Theatre, who has more than 170 professional directing and acting roles to his credit, including title roles in productions of Shakespeare's plays. 

(L to R) Tristan Jenkins, Third Place Winner; Julie Robinson, President, ESU Kansas City Branch; Q Duxler, Second Place Winner; Pierre Madlangbayan, First Place Winner; Daniel Bukovac, Shakespeare Competition Coordinator

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