Higgins Places In 'Making Art While Socially Quarantined' Speech Tournament

NEBRASKA CITY – Ellie Higgins of Nebraska City earned national acclaim in May with her speech in the Making Art While Socially Quarantined online speech tournament.

Higgins competed in humorous prose and serious prose while her classmate  Isabelle Bare competed in humorous prose.

Higgins’ humorous interpretation featured a 10-minute play in which she played all seven characters, including three old ladies and a younger girl at a BINGO hall.

Higgins: “When it came to choosing my piece for this year I really wanted to do something that was both funny and meaningful. In speech I have people’s undivided attention for 10 minutes and I really just wanted to use that time to bring people joy, but also make them think a little bit.

 “I think I accomplished that with this script. It’s very fun and a lot people laughed while watching it. It also has a real important message, which is the value of forgiveness and the importance of relationships.”

The plot of the speech has a woman who meets the daughter of a long-lost best friend and discovers that she must rush to apologize before her friend from years ago dies.

Higgins said it is challenge to transition from one character to the next really fast.

Higgins: “A few of the challenges I ran into as a performer were probably finding the balance between having a super fun piece and also wanting to have some soft, meaningful moments.


I definitely learned you can have both. You can have something really fun and high energy, but also have meaning.”

Higgins qualified for the semi-final round of 12 contestants and finished 10th overall.