Battle of the Bards: A Shakespearean Monologue Competition

Western Reserve Playhouse to Host Shakespearean Monologue Competition October 4th

Battle of the Bards: Shakespeare’s words. Your interpretation.

Western Reserve Playhouse is putting Northeast Ohio actors’ Shakespeare skills to the test with Battle of the Bards, a live Shakespeare performance competition judged by four artists and educators whose careers span professional Shakespeare performance, directing, actor training, education, and Shakespeare scholarship.

The inaugural judging panel brings together John Peters and Lara Mielcarek of Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Lisa Ortenzi of Great Lakes Theater, and Maggie Vinter of Case Western Reserve University.

For the actors stepping onto the WRP stage, that means the opportunity to perform Shakespeare for a panel that knows the work from remarkably different sides of the text.

Lara Mielcarek has been a core company member of Ohio Shakespeare Festival since 2006 and has performed 16 of Shakespeare’s leading female roles, including two turns as Lady Macbeth. A member of Actors’ Equity since 2010, Lara also runs the A.R.C. Shakespeare Behind Bars program and coaches students for the English-Speaking Union’s annual Shakespeare Competition.

Lisa Ortenzi, Director of Educational Programming for Great Lakes Theater, oversees GLT’s School Residency, Theater Camp, and Outreach programs. From 2001 through 2019, Lisa played a key role in producing the English-Speaking Union’s Shakespeare Monologue Competition for students throughout Northeast Ohio. Her directing and teaching career has included Great Lakes Theater, Baldwin Wallace University, Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, and Shakespeare & Company.

Maggie Vinter is Associate Professor of English Literature at Case Western Reserve University, where she teaches Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, science and magic, and adaptation. She is the author of Last Acts: The Art of Dying and the Early Modern Stage and is currently at work on two additional books examining Elizabethan theatre and Shakespearean drama.

John Peters is an area actor and artist and Customer Service Manager/House Manager for Ohio Shakespeare Festival. His OSF Shakespeare credits include As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, along with numerous ShakesBEER performances. John is also no stranger to Western Reserve Playhouse audiences, having appeared at WRP in Assassins as Giuseppe Zangara and in numerous Five Buck Series productions, most recently Julius Caesar.

Three Rounds. Two Prepared. One On the Spot.

Competitors begin Battle of the Bards with two contrasting prepared selections: one dramatic Shakespeare monologue and one comedic Shakespeare monologue.

The first two rounds give performers an opportunity to demonstrate range, interpretation, command of Shakespeare’s language, and their ability to make a centuries-old piece of text their own.

Then preparation ends.

Performers advancing to the final round will randomly draw a Shakespeare monologue and receive only a brief period to prepare it before performing for the judges and audience.

No weeks of rehearsal. No carefully polished performance. The final round asks competitors to rely on the fundamentals: understand the language, make choices, and commit.

At the conclusion of the competition, one performer will be crowned the inaugural Battle of the Bards Champion and receive a cash prize funded by competitor entry fees.

Come Watch the Battle — For Free!

Battle of the Bards will take place outdoors at Western Reserve Playhouse, and there is no admission charge for audience members.

Come cheer on Northeast Ohio performers, hear some of Shakespeare’s greatest words brought to life, and see what happens when our finalists are handed brand-new material with almost no time to prepare.

Want to watch? Just show up.
Want to compete? Registration is $25.

Event Information

Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM

Western Reserve Playhouse
3326 Everett Road
Bath, Ohio 44286

Audience Admission: FREE
Competitor Registration: $25
Location: Outdoors at Western Reserve Playhouse

Competitor entry fees fund the competition’s cash prize.

Judging Panel

John Peters — Ohio Shakespeare Festival
Lara Mielcarek — Ohio Shakespeare Festival
Lisa Ortenzi — Great Lakes Theater
Maggie Vinter — Case Western Reserve University

Whether you have spent years speaking Shakespeare or have simply wondered what would happen if someone handed you a monologue and said go, the challenge is waiting.