On Tuesday, Fordham High School for the Arts students gathered for the start of the 3rd Annual NYC August Wilson Monologue Competition hosted by Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp).

Participating students chose a two to three-minute monologue from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson to perform. Wilson is best known for his 10-play depiction of the African-American experience, called the “Pittsburgh Cycle.”

The winners!

Three winners were Chasity Tuck, John Reyes, and Shantal Melendez. Vianca Peguero was selected as an alternate.

The winning trio will compete in the NYC Competition against students from Curtis High School (Staten Island), Hillcrest High School (Queens), Repertory High School for Theatre Arts (Manhattan) and Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School (Brooklyn) on April 12.

Winners from the citywide competition will then advance to the National Competition on May 9, at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, where they will compete against students from Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston, Seattle and Atlanta.

In a press release, LeAp said its goal is to not only introduce hundreds of students to one of America’s greatest playwrights, but also to see “that August Wilson will live through our education system in the same manner and reverence as the works of William Shakespeare.”