English-Speaking Union, Kansas City Branch
The Kansas City Branch of the English-Speaking Union is excited to announce the winners of its 42nd annual Shakespeare Competition held on March 1.
Tristan Jenkins, a senior from Olathe South High School, Olathe, Kansas, won First Place in the ESU Kansas City Branch Shakespeare Competition.
Harper Wright, a senior from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, Overland Park, won Second Place, and Mac Sheforgen, a senior from Salina Central High School, was the Third Place winner. David Tate Hastings and Skyler Smith were sponsoring teachers at Olathe South High School, Kim Spillman was the sponsoring teacher at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, and Barbara Hilt and Alice Hilt sponsored the competition at Salina Central High School.
Prior to the Branch Competition, over 60 students participated in preliminary competitions at nine high schools and one homeschool co-op in the Kansas City Branch's region, which is the entire State of Kansas and western Missouri.
Jenkins impressed the judges with his performance of the character King Richard from a monologue in Shakespeare's play Richard II, and his recitation of one of Shakespeare's sonnets. The ESU will reimburse expenses up to $350 for Jenkins to travel to New York and the ESU Kansas City Branch will reimburse travel expenses of both Jenkins and his parents up to an additional $1,500. As the winner of the Kansas City Branch Competition, Jenkins has also been awarded a full scholarship to Shakespeare Exploration, a summer camp sponsored by the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.
The Kansas City Branch Competition was held at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. The judges for the Branch Competition were Sidonie Garrett, Executive Artistic Director of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, who has directed over 20 of Shakespeare's plays; Chioma Anyanwu, who has worked at nearly every theatre in Kansas City as a professional director and actor, including major roles in Shakespeare’s plays; and Mark Robbins, a founding member of the Kansas City Actors Theatre, who has more than 170 professional directing and acting roles to his credit, including title roles in productions of Shakespeare's plays.
From Saturday, April 25 to Monday, April 27, 2026, Branch Champions from across the country will gather in New York City for an unforgettable weekend of inspiration, learning, and performance. The weekend will culminate with the Final Competition at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater.
The 2026 prizes for the National Competition are as follows:
1st Place National Winner: A full scholarship to attend the British American Drama Academy Mid-Summer Conservatory Program at Oxford, England.
2nd Place National Winner: A full scholarship to attend the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp in Staunton, VA.
3rd Place National Winner: $1,000
Four previous ESU Kansas City Branch winners have placed in the top-ten finals of the ESU National Shakespeare Competition, two previous Kansas City Branch winners won First Place in the National Competition, one previous winner won Second Place, and one previous winner won Third Place in the National Finals.
The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program in which high school students nationwide read, analyze, perform, and recite Shakespeare’s works. Through the program, students develop communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature. In the Competition’s three progressive levels, students perform in their own schools, at ESU Branch community competitions, and at the National Shakespeare Competition in New York City. Since 1983, more than 400,000 young Americans of all backgrounds have taken advantage of this opportunity to bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life and learn to express his words with understanding, feeling, and clarity.
Founded in 1920, the English-Speaking Union of the United States is a national membership organization with more than 4,000 members organized in 65 Branches across the country. ESU members and volunteers are the pillars of our educational and cultural programs as they work in their local communities to carry the ESU mission forward. The English-Speaking Union of the United States shares fellowship with more than 50 independent ESUs around the world, including the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth in London.
For 100 years, the ESU educational and cultural programs have enriched the lives of students, teachers, English language learners and ESU members.
For additional information about the English-Speaking Union, please visit www.esuus.org or visit www.esuus.org/kansascity for more information about the ESU Kansas City Branch.