Drama department successful at State Thespian Conference

From March 21-24, a record number of students from the school’s drama department traveled to Upland in Southern California to compete in the International State Thespian Society’s annual California Conference.

“We go there along with most of the other thespian troupes in the state, so it’s a huge conference,” senior Laura Hannibal said. “We compete in a bunch of different events and we go to workshops.”

The events included monologues, duets and group acting, solo and group musicals and technical events such as set design, costume design and stage management. 

Many of the 42 students on the trip either won or placed in their events. Sophomore Danny Kawadri and junior Jason Tatman won third place for duet scene; sophomores Andrew York and Blake Propach and juniors Clayton Brown and Ehrland Hollingsworth were called back, or made it to the final round of judging, for their duet scenes. York, Brown and Hollingsworth also won third place for improvisation. Kawadri and senior Gabby Crolla were called back for duet musical, and seniors Moselle Main and Feargus MacFhionnlaoich were called back for their monologues. 

Along with Hannibal, seniors Shayda Roohpavar and Pavi Sadras took first place in Scenefest, an event where groups of students prepare scenes that are up to 10 minutes long from a play or musical. Their submission was also named “Best of Fest,” which awarded them the opportunity to them to perform their scene from the play “Mere Mortals,” in front of the 63 California thespian troupes that attended the conference..  

 “It was amazing [to perform on the main stage] because [other thespians are]  pretty much the best audience you could ever ask for because they’re used to having an audience, so they know exactly how to act,” Hannibal said.  “They’re really responsive and they laughed at the right things at the right times.”

Along with the individual events that students prepared beforehand, some of the thespians were able to make it into the All-State show, a showcase with actors from all of the schools that were chosen after preparing an audition song, monologue or dance to be in the show. 

“The All State show is more of a collage of a bunch of different pieces,” senior Sella Malin said. “They had tableaus where [thespians who made All State] were in different scenes that incorporated the winning [individual events] in them.”

Not only could the thespians audition for roles in the All- State show, but they could also go through an interview to be involved in the technical side of the show. All of the techs who attended the conference were involved in the showcase, including sophomore Anne Witkowski, juniors Wren Sutterfield and Katie Burns and seniors D.J. Traina and Stephen Jensen.

Together, Traina and Jensen won a Tech Olympics challenge for sound, and Jensen secured himself a scholarship money toward his college education. Traina had the opportunity to work in a position created especially for him this year.

“I had the honor of being the first master carpenter in an All State show,” Traina said. “They actually have not had the master carpenter position before, but when I interviewed, I told them I was looking for more of a leadership role, so they ended up making the position because of me.”

In more recent drama events, students in “Witness for the Prosecution,” have been preparing to showcase their first student directed production of the year. The show runs on April 26, 27, 28, and is directed by senior Shayda Roohpavar.