2026 Shakespeare Competition

2026 National Shakespeare Competition

Kansas City Branch Finals

March 1,2026 • 2:00 – 4:00 pm CST

Join us for our 42^nd annual Shakespeare Competition in Kansas City as KC metro area high school students compete for First Place with the winner advancing to the National Finals in New York City in April 2026. Students perform Shakespeare monologues and recite sonnets in three qualifying stages: school, branch, and National levels.

This 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, 15,000 students, and 750+ schools in nearly 50 ESU branches participate each year.

For your high school to participate in the Kansas City Branch Competition, a sponsoring teacher will need to organize a competition at your school. The sponsoring teacher also needs to register your school’s competition with the ESU. The deadline to submit the School Registration Form is February 10, 2026. The deadline to hold your school competition and report your school’s winner to the ESU is February 20, 2026.

All materials including the online School Registration Form, teacher and student handbooks, and packets of monologues and sonnets are located here.

Contact Kansas City Branch Competition Coordinator Dan Bukovac for questions: dan.bukovac@gmail.com