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THE HUNTINGTON EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SPRINGS BACK IN FULL FORCE, BRINGING THEATRE AND POETRY TO STUDENTS ACROSS GREATER BOSTON AND THE COMMONWEALTH 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT:

Gabrielle Jaques, Publicist

gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org

617-273-1520

PHOTOS for download are available here

 

THE HUNTINGTON EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SPRINGS BACK IN FULL FORCE, BRINGING THEATRE AND POETRY TO STUDENTS ACROSS GREATER BOSTON AND THE COMMONWEALTH 

 

After mostly virtual Education Department activities during Covid-19, this spring included three major in-person student performance experiences: Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts, August Wilson New Voices Competition, and True Colors’ Next Narrative Monologue Competition

 

(BOSTON) – The Huntington Education Department announces a busy spring season, with three programs returning full force since Covid-19 this March and April 2023. The Massachusetts chapter of the national recitation contest run locally by The Huntington with the Mass Cultural Council and nationwide by The Poetry Foundation and National Endowment of the Arts, Poetry Out Loud, returned in-person across Massachusetts for the first time since 2020, culminating with the state finals taking place at the Old South Meeting House on Sunday, March 12. The August Wilson New Voices Competition – for which The Huntington is a regional partner –  returned with a new format and in-person for the first time since 2020, with regional finals taking place at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA on Monday, March 20. And in early April, the Next Narrative Monologue Competition regional finals returned once again in person to the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA on Monday, April 3. Finalists from all three regional competitions will go on to compete nationally in May.

Theatre education builds prosocial behavior in students, encourages empathy, improves public speaking, and develops both creative and critical thinking. These skills are particularly important for students who recently spent a significant amount of schooling time in total or partial isolation due to Covid-19. The Huntington Education Department is proud and excited to continue its efforts to bring theatre and poetry – and the skills and inspiration those arts foster – into young people’s lives.

“I am so proud of the students, teachers, and my staff who made an almost-instant pivot to virtual learning in the 20/21 and 21/22 school years. There was profound collaboration and great success in those two years,” says Huntington Director of Education Meg O’Brien. “I am also deeply moved and relieved by the opportunity to safely return to in person learning, engagement, and performances. The students in each of these programs represent hundreds of thousands of students who thrive in creative spaces, and they will shine in their upcoming moments in the spotlight. We have all not-so-patiently anticipated this very moment from the start of the shutdown three years ago, and I am delighted and grateful to have arrived here.”

“It’s great to be back in person!” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco about Poetry Out Loud. “It’s really moving to see so many students that are thriving that they had to name five finalists instead of the usual three. And all the kids were just so possessed, passionate, and inside the language. It’s a tribute to Meg [O’Brien] and this program how prolifically we were represented. It gave me lots of pride and excitement for the future.”

One of the most extensive and admired programs in the country, The Huntington Education Department serves more than 30,000 students, teachers, and community organizations each year with student matinees, Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts, the August Wilson New Voices Competition, True Colors’ Next Narrative Monologue Competition, and other programs. Collaborators in this work include Boston Public Schools, Codman Academy Charter Public School, The Goodman Theatre, National Endowment for the Arts, Mass Cultural Council, and many community organizations. The Boston Chapter of the August Wilson New Voices Competition includes school residencies in 10 Boston Public Schools, Codman Academy Charter Public School, and Cambridge Rindge & Latin School.

Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts has been ranked in the top 5 states for participation statistics nationally for 13 of the 18 years POL has existed. And this year, the 2023 POL Massachusetts State Finals scores were so close that five top finalists were named instead of the planned top three.

Jaden Riley, a Senior at John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics, was named the 2023 Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts State Champion and will go on to compete in the Nationals in DC May 8-11. In second place was Tuala Sullivan (Senior at Newburyport High School in Newburyport) and in third place Ellis Iurilli-Hough (Senior at Melrose High School in Melrose). Rounding out the top five finalists are Klea Pocoli (Senior at Methuen High School in Methuen) and Maria Zaki (Junior at Franklin High School in Franklin).

Beza Mekonnen, a Junior at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, was named the 2023 August Wilson New Voices Monologue Competition Boston Regional Champion. In second place was Seine Young (Senior at Boston Arts Academy). Both students won prize money as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to Chicago, IL for the Nationals (April 29 – May 2).

Sakura Rosenthal, a Junior at Boston Arts Academy, was named the 2023 Next Narrative Boston Regional Champion. In second and third place were Seine Young (Senior at Boston Arts Academy) and Armani Barrantes (Junior at Boston Arts Academy) respectively. Rosenthal and Young will go on to compete in the Nationals in New York (May 6-9).

ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD

Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation contest that celebrates the power of the spoken word and a mastery of public speaking skills while cultivating self-confidence and an appreciation of students’ literary heritage as they take poetry from the page to the stage. Poetry Out Loud has inspired hundreds of thousands of high school students to discover and appreciate both classic and contemporary poetry. Several students who have come up through The Huntington’s education program have gone on to rank in the top nine students in the national competition.

“Poetry Out Loud helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage,” says the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. “By encouraging students to study, memorize, and perform some of the most influential and timeless poems of the English language, you immerse them in powerful expression and provocative ideas.”

Regional semi-finals were held on March 4-6 in multiple locations. The state finals will determine who will go on to compete at the national level. Massachusetts State Champions have been top-9 National Finalists in 2008, 2011, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

ABOUT THE POL MASSACHUSETTS CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS

2023 POL MA State Champion: Jaden Riley       John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science

2nd Place:               Tuala Sullivan                           Newburyport High School

3rd Place:               Ellis Iurilli-Hough                      Melrose High School

Finalist:                   Kyle Colbourn                           Algonquin Regional High School

Finalist:                   Chloe Dantus                           Avon Middle High School

Finalist:                   Charlotte French                      Dartmouth High School

Finalist:                   Maria Zaki*                               Franklin High School

Finalist:                   Klea Pocoli*                              Methuen High School

Finalist:                   Alexandra Tsourides                Plymouth South High School

Finalist:                   Charles Bacon                          St. Sebastian’s School

Finalist:                   Moira O’Connor Doolittle          South Hadley High School

 

* 2023 top 5 finalist

 

PHOTOS available for download here.

 

ABOUT THE AUGUST WILSON NEW VOICES COMPETITION

The August Wilson New Voices Competition is a collaboration between the August Wilson Estate, The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and Derrick Sanders, associate director of the Drama Division at Juilliard and longtime collaborator of August Wilson. The AWNVC provides young people with an opportunity to build and develop their performance skills as well as connect to and further the legacy of Wilson’s work. This program is free and open to all young people in grades 9-12.

One of the few regional theatres nationally to have produced all 10 plays of August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, The Huntington’s relationship with August Wilson is a long and storied one. Between 1986 and 2005, Wilson premiered seven of his seminal plays in residence at The Huntington; the first was Joe Turner’s Come and Gone featuring future stage and screen stars Angela Bassett and Delroy Lindo. In a fitting tribute, the newly renovated historic Huntington Theatre reopened this past October of 2022 with a powerful new production of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

 

ABOUT THE AUGUST WILSON NEW VOICES COMPETITION REGIONAL WINNERS

2023 AWNVC Boston Regional Champion: Beza Mekonnen           Cambridge Rindge & Latin School

2nd Place:                                                         Seine Young                 Boston Arts Academy

 

PHOTOS available for download here.

 

 

ABOUT TRUE COLORS’ NEXT NARRATIVE MONOLOGUE COMPETITION

True Colors’ Next Narrative Monologue Competition™ features True Colors-commissioned works from America’s leading contemporary Black playwrights that engage students in artful exploration of 21st century themes, while instilling confidence in all to find their voices. This program is free and open to all young people in grades 9-12.

The objectives of the Next Narrative Monologue Competition are to introduce students to today’s leading contemporary Black writers, expose students to acting techniques that enhance their knowledge of the art and skill of performance, utilize the arts to support students in making co-curricular connections, investigate how history and culture influence personal perspective through artful exploration, and embolden students to use their voices to inspire social action.

ABOUT THE TRUE COLORS’ NEXT NARRATIVE MONOLOGUE COMPETITION REGIONAL WINNERS

2023 Next Narrative Boston Regional Champion: Sakura Rosenthal (Boston Arts Academy)

2nd Place:                                                                    Seine Young (Boston Arts Academy)

3rd Place:                                                                     Armani Barrantes (Boston Arts Academy)

 

PHOTOS available for download here.

ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON

Celebrating 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, The Huntington provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Managing Director Michael Maso, The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre this fall after its transformational renovation. A storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.

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