The Theater Department earned multiple awards at the District 5 Thespian Festival held on campus on November 19th.

  Troupe 4848 won Critic’s Choice and will perform at the opening ceremony at States in March. They also won Best in Show in six events, including Student Directed Scene, Monologue, Acting Scene, Small Group and Large Group Musical. Their One Act Magic in the Mountain was selected as one of five to move on to States as well. “This is a big accomplishment for us because it shows that we are one of the top troupes in our district,” said senior Faith McFarland who played Tess.

   The theater department’s practice was interrupted by Hurricane Ian, which arrived days before the performance. “The first hurricane was really stressful because it took time away from us and then when the second hurricane hit it meant that we had to be on our ‘A’ game and prepare ourselves,” said lead performer Adam Morales. 

   Despite the in-climate weather, Thespians were able to bring home Best in Show. Magic in the Mountain received perfect scores, stole the hearts of judges, and won best in show. “The process was stressful but still really fun, we had a short period to put it all together but we still pulled through and got first place and that was an amazing feeling,” said Kendall Falana who played Mamma Massey.

  The competition also opened doors for students to earn scholarships for performing arts. Seniors Brianani Wingham and Adam Morales were awarded scholarships during the Thespian closing ceremonies. “I had to audition in the morning, out of 50 people I had to sing a song and do a monologue. The process of that was fine and honestly I didn’t have high hopes whatsoever. I was doing it just for fun. At the end of the night they were announcing scholarships and they announced ‘ So the next District 5 Scholarship goes to Brianni Wigham’ and when I heard my name, I immediately jumped up and couldn’t believe it was happening. It was kind of like time was frozen,” said Brianni Wigham who played Evanora.

  Each scholarship is worth $500.00 dollars. “The scholarship felt super rewarding after receiving it, it really hit me that I’m about to start a new chapter of my life” said Adam Morales who played Romie.