L.B. Landry High School in Algiers. May 1, 2021.
For more than a decade, high school students around the country have honored the life and work of the late playwright August Wilson with an annual monologue competition, delivering scenes from “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson.”
The first round of competition is held regionally and in a typical year winners advance to a
national final in New York City. Louisiana hasn’t held a local competition in the past, but that changed Saturday when L.B. Landry High School in Algiers hosted the state’s inaugural event.
Twenty-one students from eight New Orleans schools participated including Landry senior Laila Joseph. She said while her teachers had mentioned Wilson in passing, she was largely unfamiliar with his work before signing up for the competition.