Education Programs

The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition

PLEASE SEE AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING THE COMPETITION BELOW

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2020 SCHOOL PARTICIPATION FORM!

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2020 SCHOOL WINNER FORM!

Dear Shakespeare Competition Community,

After careful consideration, and with the safety and well-being of our young students at heart, the ESU has decided to reconfigure the 2020 ESU National Shakespeare Competition.

All events in New York City are cancelled.

Please do not book airfare.

We are planning on a remote competition to take place over the internet. Our prize structure will remain the same, but we will include some exciting new additions to the competition that will allow for community engagement and further reward our young students and their teachers for their commitment over the last 37 years.

This is an unprecedented situation, but we will draw upon our 100 years of experience to come up with innovative ways to make the competition as rewarding as it has always been for our students, families, teachers and branches.

We will be in contact with all of our branches, branch winners, and their families in the next few days to inform you how we plan to proceed.

Sincerely,

Karen Karpowich

About the Competition

The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based educational program serving grades 9-12. Since 1983, the competition has engaged more than 360,000 young people. Approximately 2,500 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 60 ESU Branch communities participate each year.

The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is aligned with modern educational practices. Participating students:

practice essential skills such as critical thinking, close reading and public speaking
work through all 6 levels of Bloom's taxonomy,from recall to creation, increasing self-confidence through reading, analysis and performance of Shakespeare
have multiple points of entry to explore universal themes and are challenged to decode for themselves the complex beauty of Shakespeare's language
work with teachers and peers in a student-centered program of experiential and cross-curriculum learning
meet local, state and national standards in English Language Arts and Drama.

The ESU National Shakespeare Competition has been recognized by the Globe Center (USA), the Children's Theatre Foundation of America and the American Academy of Achievement.

Please click on the appropriate link at left for our handbooks and learn more about the ESU National Shakespeare Competition.

ESU NATIONAL SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION: ONLINE

No branch? We can help!

The ESU is using technology to reach every high school, every teacher, and every student across the United States!

The ESU National Shakespeare competition is now open to all students, nationwide, regardless of location. Using readily available technology like cell phone cameras, schools without a participating local branch of the ESU can join the fun and be eligible to compete in a live finals round via video streaming. Winners of the Online Finals will travel, all-expenses paid to New York City to compete in the national competition against all our branch competition winners.

Click here to learn more!