Welcome to the
August Wilson Monologue Competition

Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company is proud to present the 14th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition for Greater Metro Atlanta area high school students, grades 9-12. This competition, coordinated by True Colors Theatre’s Director of Education, Nikki Toombs, focuses on the plays of August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, which chronicle the African American experience through the 20th century. Each play is set in a different decade and is filled with soaring, lyrical monologues that take the song, laughter, pain, and rich content of African American life and places it in the mouths of the greatest and varied ensemble of characters written since Shakespeare. This year’s theme “Still Standing” is certainly fitting as we organizationally and artistically pivot through these unique times. We are committed to telling the stories that are TRUE to YOU, and we are dedicated to providing artistic opportunities to young creatives as they use their talents to transform and share with the world.

About Us

The inspiration for the competition was sparked by two of August Wilson’s closest living collaborators, Kenny Leon and Todd Kreidler. Kenny Leon, the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, worked closely with Wilson; directing most of the Century Cycle plays on Broadway and at regional theatres. Todd Kreidler, former Associate Artistic Director for Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, was Dramaturg for Wilson’s last play and Director of his one-man show. As a result, both have intimate knowledge of August Wilson as an artist and as a person. According to Kreidler, “The goal of the competition is to help garner partnerships with communities, schools, and theaters across the United States, and to create educational materials about August Wilson that allow students, of all races, to connect these important theatre works with educational curricula like history, social studies, and literature.”