Gifted writers can create dialog that sounds like the way people really talk. But only the rarest of writers can make those words into poetry. The late August Wilson, whose plays include one for each decade of the 20th century, created stories epic in scope, tragic in circumstance, and yet still somehow hopeful. The characters may not be able to get what they dream of. But there is a sense of triumph in the plays themselves, the fact that the stories are told with such profound respect and compassion.
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After August Wilson died in 2005, his friends and former colleagues established a student competition in his memory, inviting young actors to inhabit his characters and speak their words by presenting monologues. It began at just one school, then expanded nationwide. The documentary Giving Voice follows the 2018 competitors as they talk about discovering their love for theatrical performance and work with coaches and teachers. And then we follow the finalists from acro