Winners announced in local monologue competition for youth

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Streams Community Hub has announced the winners of their 2nd annual Word of Mouth Monologue Competition. 

Twelve finalists, ranging from ages 8 to 17 years old, gathered at Grace Tipling Hall in Shelburne on Saturday (Nov. 26) to compete in a final performance of the Word of Mouth Monologue Competition in front of a panel of three judges. 

“Word of Mouth gives young people an opportunity not only challenge themselves by putting themselves out there in a creative way, but to also give them an outlet to express themselves and to build courage, confidence, and self-esteem,” said co-founder Andrew James. “Although it is called a competition, we share with our finalists the true competition is against yourself, and if you perform better than you did in your audition video, then you're already a winner. 

The competition was divided into two age categories, 8-12 (junior) and 13-17 (senior), with the finalists performing a diverse work of monologues touching on a variety of topics including discrimination, neurodiversity, identity, bullying, grief, climate change and more. 

Finalists for the Word of Mouth Monologue Competition were selected from a group of 22 contestants. Contestants were judged on a variety of criteria including introduction, characterization, movement, diction, projection, vocal variety, emotion, tempo, rhythm and focal point. 

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Farkas placed first in the junior category with her performance of Marnie McPhee from ‘The Remarkable Flight of Marnie McPhee' by Daniel Karasik. 

“It was pretty extraordinary,” said Farkas about her first-place win. “I really like acting and I thought it would be good to try. I'd say you should do it if you want to because it's really fun.”  

Centre Dufferin District High School (CDDHS), exchange student Andere Garabieta, 15, placed first in the senior category with her performance of John from ‘The Death of Me' by Norman Foster. 

“It's amazing and I'm very excited. I'm going back home to Spain tomorrow so this is the perfect goodbye to Canada,” said Garabieta. “I've always loved acting and I dream of being an actress when I'm older.” 

Garabieta was also the recipient of the Fan Favourite award, receiving over 800 votes on her audition submission. 

Second place in the junior category was given to Callie Reed for her performance as Ojha from ‘Sultans of the Streets, and second place for the senior category was given to Alexandria Fazekas for her performance of John from ‘Selfie'. 

First-place winners were awarded a $1,000 grand prize, while second place was awarded $500. The monetary prizes were sponsored by Crewson Insurance. 

“Crewson Insurance has deep roots within the community, and we have always supported local children and youth. As soon as we found out that there was an arts and culture hub coming to Shelburne, we wanted to support it and we will continue to support it because the youth in this community are our future,” said Jennifer Crewson, who presented the awards to the winners. 

Streams Community Hub also revealed a new award called the Bravery Award, which recognizes the first individual to submit their audition for the Word of Mouth Monologue Competition. 

Maya Abhimanu was the 2022 recipient of the Bravery Award. 

Streams Community Hub will be sharing a public airing of the 2022 Word of Mouth Competition at a later date.