Competition Outline

All students living or enrolled in a high school in the Canning electorate are invited to participate in Andrew Hastie's annual Canning Shakespeare Competition. 

The purpose of the competition is to encourage students to explore work of our most influential poet and playwright. The competition aims to provide students in the Canning electorate with an opportunity to practice their theatrical skills live on-stage and receive feedback from local professionals in performing arts.

Participants wishing to enter must:

1. Be a year 10, 11 or 12 student studying or living in the Canning electorate.
2. Complete the Canning Shakespeare Competition application form.  
3. Finalists chosen must be available on Saturday 22 August 2020 for the final competition. 

Round 1 - Video submission

Video submissions must be submitted along with an application form by 5pm Friday 7 August 2020, either via email to [email protected] or by hard copy (DVD or USB) to:

Canning Shakespeare Competition

Office of Andrew Hastie MP

Member for Canning

PO Box 968

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 22 August 2020 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. 

COMPETITION RULES

All participants must adhere to the following rules. 

1. Each student must select, memorize and perform one (1) monologue from a Shakespeare play.
2. Prior to performing the monologue in the video submission, participants must mention their name, age, and a brief description of why they chose the particular Shakespeare piece, and what it means to them.  
3. The monologue must come from one of Shakespeare's 37 plays.
   1. NOTE:  Students can pick any role regardless of their gender (i.e. females can perform male roles, and vice versa)
4. Length of monologue should be no more than 2.5 minutes. Students performing longer monologues will be disqualified.
   1. NOTE: Editing of the piece (i.e. cutting of lines) is allowed, but the piece still needs to make logical sense
5. Students should introduce themselves only by name (not by school).
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. For the live performance, students are expected to memorise their pieces. If necessary, however, prompting is allowed. If students require prompting, they must say 'Line.'
9. Prior to the live performance, a photo of the participant must be attached to the script and handed to the panel of judges.

PRIZE DETAILS

First place: $1,000

Second place: $750

Third place: $500

Optional Workshop 25 July 2020

Saturday 25 July

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Foundation Christian College: Foundation Performing Arts Centre

Students are invited to attend a workshop at the Foundation Performing Arts Centre on 25 July 2020 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

The workshop, run by Steve Capener from Capener Productions, will entail an exploration of your chosen monologue in line with the judging criteria for the competition.

You will also have the opportunity to have your monologue professionally recorded during the workshop which may be counted as your Video Submission in Round 1 of the competition.

You are encouraged to have rehearsed your monologue in advance to ensure you benefit as much as possible from the workshop, and to take full advantage of having your monologue professionally recorded on the day.

If you do not have your monologue recorded at the workshop, your own video recording for Round 1 should be submitted by 7 August 2020 as outlined in the competition brief. 

Parental consent forms must be returned to Andrew Hastie's office by Wednesday 22 July 2020.

WHAT TO BRING TO THE WORKSHOP 

- Printed copy of your monologue script 

- Packed morning tea/water bottle 

- Please wear theatre blacks

Click here to download the competition brief and application form 

Click here to download the workshop brief and parental consent form