Jordan Chantha Weir has at least a 10% chance of winning $5,000 June 15. 

Chantha Weir is one of 10 actors from across the country participating in Sparkfest’s 2024 acting competition. The annual summer festival opens up performing arts opportunities for communities that haven’t traditionally seen their stories reflected onstage, according to organizers. 

This year’s festival is dedicated to uplifting stories and works from Asian American and Pacific Islander creatives.

For her and many of the other artists preparing for the competition at Amphibian Stage, the opportunity is about far more than the prize.

Chantha Weir, who was born in Cambodia and raised in San Antonio, has found it hard to discover acting opportunities or roles with Asian characters.

“I’m a big believer in that you have to create opportunities for yourself,” she said. “As somebody who is a woman who is Asian American, I don’t always have the same opportunities. As a woman, it’s also really challenging to find pieces that aren’t always about finding love or taking care of someone else.”

The competition takes place in three rounds. On night one, all 10 competitors perform their choice of monologue.

Chantha Weir selected a speech from Charles Mee’s play “Eternity,” in which an artist reflects on the roller-coaster ride of chasing their passion. She picked it because she understood what the artist was going through, she said.

“This piece is really liberating, because I actually get to say what I want,” Chantha Weir said.

In the second round, each actor has 30 minutes to prepare a scene and adjust based on feedback from the judges.

In the last round, five finalists revisit and improve their monologues from the first performance.

Houston-based actor Christian Tannous was a finalist in the 2023 acting competition, which highlighted Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian voices.

“The toughest thing for actors to do, I believe, is monologue, to hold the entire attention of the audience and tell a whole story by yourself and make it truthful and earnest,” he said.

The challenge of the competition was coupled with the joy of building a community, Tannous said.

“There was a nice juxtaposition of safety and familiarity, being surrounded by nine other Middle Eastern actors, some of which were from Lebanon in villages not too far from the one my family is from or some from Egypt or Palestine or wherever,” Tannous continued. “It was really nice to have that familial, community bond while being thrown in the deep end in terms of acting.”

Fellow 2023 competitor Andrew Nicolas also noticed that juxtaposition.

“It was extremely daunting because these people are just truly some of the finest actors I have ever seen,” Nicolas said. 

Nicolas learned so much during the three-day competition, he said.

“I saw so much incredible work and connected with these incredibly talented and full-of-heart performers,” Nicolas said. “It didn’t feel like we were competing, ever.”

2024 hopeful Chantha Weir is grateful to have this opportunity, regardless of the outcome, she said.

“Honestly, for me, just being able to be a part of Sparkfest, I’m already over the moon that I get to be in this space,” she said.

Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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