Manhattan Theatre Club's Education department gave high school students quarantined due to the spread of COVID-19 a platform to express themselves in this unprecedented time with their Student Monologue Challenge. Students were asked to write one-minute monologues from the prompt "there's something I need to say to you." Ten monologues from more than 350 entries were selected by MTC to be performed by professional actors for a weekly video series that began in July. Watch Taylor Trensch, Gaten Matarazzo, Kara Young, Ana Villafañe, and more perform from the chosen monologues and speak directory to their student playwrights in the compilation video above.
You can watch all of the videos in full at ManhattanTheatreClub.com, where MTC has also collected biographical information for the student playwrights. You can also read more than 70 additional monologues submitted through the challenge.
The Student Monologue Challenge is just one of MTC's education initiatives, which also include internships, the Family Drama Playwrighting Workshop series, and a series of streaming video workshops for high school students.