The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program. High school students develop analytical and communication skills by performing Shakespeare at the school, community, and national levels. Since 1983 more than 360,000 students have brought the timeless works of Shakespeare to life. The Colonial NC Branch has participated in the National Shakespeare Competition in New York for many years. 

The Competition helps students develop speaking and critical-thinking skills while they explore the beauty of the language and the timeless themes in Shakespeare’s works. By preparing a monologue and sonnet for public presentation, students bring Shakespeare to life in their own way and learn to express his works with understanding, clarity, and feeling. Approximately 2,500 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 60 ESU branches participate each year.

High school students from eastern North Carolina (Grades 9-12) will be competing for first place at the Colonial NC Branch finals with the winner advancing to the National Finals in New York City in April 2027. Students perform and recite Shakespeare monologues and sonnets in three qualifying stages: school, branch, and National levels.

If you are a theatre, English, or other high school teacher, or if you administer a home school program on the high school level, we encourage you to enter to give your students an opportunity to participate in this exciting competition. If you are an interested high school student, please alert your teachers to this valuable program. 

The 2027 ESU National Shakespeare Competition is underway in schools across the country. The following are upcoming deadlines for this year’s competition:

• Branch registration deadline – October 30, 2026
• School registration (extended) deadline – November 30, 2026
• Branch competitions must be held prior to March 10, 2027, (usually held in February in New Bern)
• Branch winner packets must be returned to ESU by March 17, 2027

The competition finals will be held at Lincoln Center in NYC in late April (date TBA).

2027 Prizes Include:

• 1st place: British American Drama Academy Mid-Summer Conservatory Program in Oxford, London
• 2nd place: American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp in Staunton, VA
• 3rd place: $1000

Documents & Forms

All materials including the online school participation form, teacher and student handbooks, and packets of monologues and sonnets are located here.

Branch Contact

Contact Colonial NC Branch Competition Coordinator Bob Husson for questions: bob.husson@gmail.com

Our local Eastern North Carolina winners attend the National Shakespeare Competition in New York City, a trip that is sponsored by the Colonial NC Branch. One recent winner won first place in the National Writing Competition along with a cash award.

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. It is the only national Shakespeare competition in the United States and the only such program exclusively for high school students.