All The World's A Stage for Teen from Glen Ridge High

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 27, 2012 - THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION OF THE UNITED STATES
Education.  Scholarship.  Understanding.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          Contact:    Kathryn Marmion
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ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
For teen from Glen Ridge High

Lawrenceville, February 27 – Mpho Manye from Glen Ridge, a student of Matthew Connici at Glen Ridge High in Glen Ridge, won the English-Speaking Union Princeton Branch regional Shakespeare competition.  The event was part of the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition.   The ESU Branch competition was held on February 26 at Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, and 7 school winners from the area participated.  Mr. Manye impressed the judges and captivated the audience with his performance of Iago from Othello and his recitation of Sonnet 23.  He will go on to represent the Princeton Branch area as a semi-finalist at National competition, which will be held on April 23rd (Shakespeare’s birthday) at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Mr. Manye will be awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for the final stage of the Competition, where he will be able to perform onstage at a world-renowned performing arts center.  The ESU National Headquarters will also provide Mr. Manye with two full days of educational and cultural activities, including an acting workshop at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, participation in World Book Night and a visit to the William Shakespeare statue in Central Park.  Perhaps best of all for Mr. Manye will be the opportunity to spend a weekend with 57 other Branch winners from across the country, who share his love of the Bard and his works.

Mr. Manye will be competing for amazing opportunities this summer in both the United States and aboard.  The first place winner receives a full tuition scholarship to study acting in Shakespeare’s homeland, England; this year the national winner will attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s Young Actors Summer School in London.  The second place winner receives a full tuition scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Centre’s Theater Camp in Staunton, VA.  

The judging panel at the National Competition consists of actors, directors, Shakespeare scholars and educators.  Past judges have included Andre Braugher, Kate Burton, Maurice Charney, Blythe Danner, Barry Edelstein, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Helen Hayes, Edward Herrmann, Dana Ivey, Kristin Linklater, Peter MacNicol, Jesse L. Martin, Cynthia Nixon, Tina Packer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nancy Piccione, Phylicia Rashad, Christopher Reeve, Louis Scheeder, Richard Thomas, Courtney B. Vance, Sam Waterston, Dianne Wiest, Gene Wilder and Irene Worth.

Also receiving honors at Sunday’s competition was runner-up Sarah Parks, a student at Princeton Day School who performed Ariel from The Tempest and recited Sonnet 94.  Earning honorable mention was Selena Seay-Reynolds, also a student at Princeton Day School, with her performance of Hermione from A Winter’s Tale and recitation of Sonnet 43.

The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program in which high school students nationwide read, analyze, perform and recite Shakespearean monologues and sonnets.  Through the program, students develop communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature.  In three progressive competition levels, students present the Bard’s works in their own schools, at ESU Branch sponsored community competitions and at the National Shakespeare Competition.  Inaugurated in 1983, the program has given more than 250,000 young people of all backgrounds the opportunity to bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life and learn to express his words with understanding, feeling and clarity.

The English-Speaking Union is a non-profit, non-political educational organization, whose mission is to celebrate English as a shared language to foster global understanding and good will by providing educational and cultural opportunities for students, teachers and its members.  The ESU carries out its work through a network of 70 Branches and affiliates in the United States, United Kingdom and 60 other countries, sponsoring a variety of language and international education programs.  For information on joining The English-Speaking Union of the United States, visit www.esuus.org or call 212-818-1200.


THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION OF THE UNITED STATES

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
144 East 39th Street, New York, NY  10016
Tel: 212-818-1200    Fax: 212-867-4177
Email: info@esuus.org    Website: www.esuus.org

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The ESU is an educational organization celebrating English as a shared language through a number of language and international education programs.