Every year, high school actors bring their talent and love of theatre to the annual Thespian Festival. Created by the International Thespian Society (established in the 1920s), the festival represents high school and amateur theatre all around the world. Each festival is presented either on the international, national or state level. The Maryland State Thespian Festival invites students from all around the state to celebrate all things threatre, and provides the “thespians” with  100+ workshops to enhance their skills in areas pertaining to vocal work, acting, scenery, etc. The event also provides the thespians opportunities to meet other fellow high school actors, see plays performed by other drama teams, and participate in competitions.

This year marked the first year in which Roosevelt’s drama team competed in the Thespian Festival. In the competition, students would perform a one act play,  which was then judged based on staging, vocal work, ensemble work, physical work, pacing in the play, and truth in the world.

ERHS Drama performed a one act titled “A.P. Theatre” by Ed Monk. The play centers around a student taking an A.P. Theatre exam, which visualizes 3 different styles of theatre: Greek, Bunraku, and Absurdism. The ensemble worked together, focusing much of their time on choreographing, staging, and acting out the play to make it as realistic as possible, all the while maintaing the styles of theatre aforementioned.

Roosevelt placed first in the competition, and was scored “outstanding” in all six categories.”Our scores were high as possible,” beamed Mr. Mannino, Roosevelt’s drama teacher. “We were 5 points total from a perfect score.” Preparation for the play was minimal, yet the students came extremely prepared for their debut. “We had originally performed the one act last year, but this year we only had to rehearse for one week,” stated Mr. Mannino. Although there were some abrupt casting changes, the team did not let it inhibit them in reaching their goal to win.

Two ERHS Drama students were presented the “Most Outstanding Actor” award for their exceptional performances: senior MerryRose Howley and sophmore Reyhana Badarani. Both actresses played multiple different roles in the play and demonstrated tremendous skill in both acting and voicing. “From the experience, I just became more determined to continue doing theatre,” said Howley. “Not that I was doubting it, but [the] Thespian Festival was just a great reminder that theatre and performing in general is what I really want to do.” Badarani described her experience to be rewarding as well. “Thespian Festival was a very exciting and overwhelming experience for me,” stated Badarani. “There were so many people from all over the state. It made me so happy to see so many people who were as dedicated to theater like me.”

Roosevelt Thespians fully in character performing “A.P. Theatre”