True Colors Theatre Company today announced the 2025 Next Narrative® National Monologue Competition (NNMC) National Finals. The top two finalists from nine regional competitions will participate in the national finals on Monday, May 5, 2025, at the Apollo Stages at The Victoria, a new expansion of the historic Apollo Theatre in New York City.
Launched four years ago, NNMC features original monologues commissioned specifically for the competition from 31 leading contemporary Black playwrights. NNMC is an evolution of True Colors’ original monologue competition, which featured monologues of August Wilson and ran from its creation 2007 until 2021.
“We have some very talented students for this year’s finals,” said True Colors Artistic Director Jamil Jude. “Each year the NNMC just gets better and better and we are confident this year’s performances will take us to a new level of competition.”
Last year Raichel West of Milwaukee was the first-place winner at the NNMC National Finals. This year’s regions and contestants are:
● Atlanta, True Colors Theatre Company, Ja’Kayah Jackson and Spirit Waddell
● Boston, The Huntington, Adrian Sanchez and Joud Alkhalifa
● Dallas, Southern Methodist University, Gabrielle Couts and Kerion Gordon
● Kansas City, Kansas City Melting Pot Theatre, Cameron Ritchie and Kamea J. Richardson
● Milwaukee, Milwaukee Rep, Thatcher Jacobs and Silver Anderson
● Pittsburgh, Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project, Dayton Jackson and Ken-Niyah Woods
● Portland, World Stage Theatre, Ava Simone Cabine and Judah Forrester
● Seattle, Seattle Rep, Tyanna Curry and Giselle Kendrick
● Tulsa, Tulsa Performing Arts Center & University of Ohio, Shawnna’lee Davis and Chiedza Mahuni
The top three winners will receive prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. Kansas City and Tulsa are participating in the finals for the first time, while Boston, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Seattle have participated in True Colors’ monologue competitions since 2007.
For more information on the NNMC, please visit truecolorstheatre.org/nnmc
For more information on True Colors Theatre, please visit: www.truecolorstheatre.org.