Happiness, enjoyment, sadness and gratitude are just a few of the emotions one feels when watching the new documentary “Giving Voice.”

The plot mainly revolves around six student actors as they audition for the August Wilson Monologue competition, which ends in a final round on Broadway. Thousands of students from twelve different cities try for a chance to perform a monologue from one of his plays. It features all the students who auditioned in the 2018 competition. 

August Wilson was an amazing playwright who sadly passed away in 2005 due to cancer. The competition came about to continue his legacy and let other students live their acting dreams. This inspirational and heartfelt documentary is great to watch at home with the family.  “Giving Voice” came out on Netflix on December 11. 

Interviews with actors Viola Davis, Denzel Washington and Stephen McKinley Henderson occur in between segments that follow the teenagers moving through the competition. The actors were there because they played roles in Wilson’s plays. They mentioned their point of view and how they felt with the competition and how Wilson became an influential person to them. The lighting begins mainly bright, but through some of the interviews, because they are older, it gets dull and rustic. The students who all auditioned for the competition all equal amazing actors and they definitely continue to go far in their career. Personally, it’s nice how they showed all the rounds of the competition and what the judges thought as they moved on.

 If one enjoys inspiring and encouraging documentaries, this is right up their alley. Towards the end, “Giving Voice” became tense as it left the viewer wondering “Who will win the competition?” and “What is going to happen?”

The documentary is rated PG-13. “Giving Voice” runs about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The documentary includes many heartfelt moments such as how most of the students auditioning came from a rough neighborhood and how they overcame struggles. They came to this competition to become more than what was expected by them of others. All in all, “Giving Voice” rates a solid 5 out of 5 stars.