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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Feb. 25, 2023 - PRLog -- 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 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 Plaza Branch. 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'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.

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.

The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program in which high school students nationwide read, analyze, perform, and recite Shakespeare's works. Through the program, students develop communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature. In the Competition's three progressive levels, students perform in their own schools, at ESU Branch community competitions, and at the National Shakespeare Competition in New York City. Since 1983, more than 400,000 young Americans of all backgrounds have taken advantage of this opportunity to bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life. For additional information about the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition, please visit www.shakespearecompetition.org and www.esuus.org/kansascity