The English-Speaking Union of the United States is committed to promoting scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community. The ESU carries out its work through a network of 77 branches and affiliates in the United Kingdom and 48 other countries, sponsoring a variety of language and international education programs.
The English-Speaking Union's annual Shakespeare Competition is a curriculum-based program designed to help high school students develop their understanding of Shakespeare and their ability to communicate that understanding. Through the program, participants study, memorize, and interpret monologues and sonnets in as many as three qualifying stages—at the school, branch community, and national levels.
Initiated in 1983 with 500 students in New York City, the Competition has given approximately 160,000 young people the opportunity to explore the beauty and scope of Shakespeare's language as well as the timeless themes embodied in his works. Currently the program reaches 15,000 students and 2,000 teachers in 56 English-Speaking Union Branch communities around the United States.
Every April, the winners of ESU Branch Competitions come to Lincoln Center in New York City to take part in the National Shakespeare Competition. In the semi-finals, all of the contestants perform their monologues and sonnets. During the last stage of the National Competition, those students selected as finalists present a cold reading in addition to their two prepared pieces.
The winner of the National Shakespeare Competition is awarded a summer course in Great Britain. Second- and third-place winners receive $1000 and $500 cash awards, respectively.
The English-Speaking Union's Shakespeare Competition has been recognized by the Shakespeare Globe Centre (USA), the Children's Theatre Foundation of America, and the American Academy of Achievement. Judges for the Competition have included Andre Braugher, Kate Burton, Maurice Charney, Blythe Danner, Colleen Dewhurst, Gerald Freedman, Robert Giroux, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Helen Hayes, Paul Hecht, Edward Herrmann, Peter MacNicol, Jesse L. Martin, Elizabeth McGovern, Geoffrey Owens, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nancy Piccione, Phylicia Rashad, Christopher Reeve, A.L. Rowse, Carole Shelley, Rosemarie Tichler, Stuart Vaughan, Diane Venora, Sam Waterston, Dianne Wiest, and Irene Worth.