Participants wishing to enter must:

1. Be a year 10, 11 or 12 student studying or living in the Canning electorate
2. Complete and submit the Canning Shakespeare Competition application form by 5pm Friday 14 August 2026
3. Be available for the final competition

Round 1 - Video submission

Video submissions must be submitted along with an application form by 5pm Friday 14 August 2026, either via email to [email protected] or by hard copy (USB) to:

Canning Shakespeare Competition

Office of Andrew Hastie MP

2/61 Sutton Street 

MANDURAH WA 6210

In the video submission, prior to performing the monologue, participants must mention their name, age, why you chose the particular Shakespeare piece, and what it means to you. 

Andrew Hastie MP will select the top ten finalists to compete in front of a panel of judges.

Round 2 - Final Performance

Top finalists will be notified in writing and will be required to perform the same monologue live on Saturday 29 August 2026 in front of a panel of expert judges at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. 

Further information on the final competition will be provided to finalists in writing. 

PRIZE DETAILS

First place: $1,000

Second place: $500

Competition Rules

All participants must adhere to the following rules.

1) Each student must select, memorize and perform one monologue from a Shakespeare play.

2) Prior to performing the monologue in both rounds, participants must mention their name, age, and a brief description of why they chose the particular Shakespeare piece.  

3) The monologue must come from one of Shakespeare's plays.

4) Length of monologue should be no more than 2.5 minutes. Students performing longer monologues will be disqualified.

NOTE: Editing of the piece (i.e. cutting of lines) is allowed, but the piece still needs to make logical sense and should be justified in their introduction.

6) Students should identify their selection before they begin their presentation.

7) Students cannot wear character costumes or use props of any kind (including chairs, jewellery, items of clothing and hair/hair clips). In order to keep the focus on the acting, students should wear neutral clothing (i.e. theatre blacks).

8) Students are expected to memorize their lines. If necessary, however, prompting is allowed. If students require prompting, they must say "Line."

9) A photo of the participant and script of their performance must be provided to Andrew Hastie’s office along with the application form by 14 August 2026.