Emma Nolan, Reporter
On Thursday, April 30, NCHS premiered another night of plays from the 26th annual DramaFest. This year, students took part in a production filled weekend to perform a series of different plays.
For many years, the NCHS drama department has been putting on a number of different performances written and directed by students of all backgrounds. This year, there were a total of six plays.
The play “Let’s Start Over”, written by seniors Charlotte and Lillian Engel, won first place production this year. “Charlotte and I wrote a show together about a guy that goes into a bar looking to meet a girl and prove that he’s capable of just talking to one, but the story takes an unexpected twist at the end,” Lillian said.
Each annual Dramafest show has a different theme as the basis of the writer’s plays. Once the theme was chosen, students began to write their pieces. “The basis of the play was written around this year’s theme which was ‘Reboot’,” Lillian said. “We took the theme and shaped it into the idea that the main character is constantly rebooting his personality to try and fit with the girls he meets.”
Along with the Engels, other writers produced plays to fit this year’s theme. Sophomores Allison Demers and Giuliana Ponterotto wrote a play titled “Finally” which received an honorable mention. “I chose to be a part of DramaFest this year because I’ve always loved to write and Dramafest gave me an opportunity to do so,” Giuliana said. “It was really cool to have people act out the lines we wrote, and it was an overall great experience.”
Not only is Dramafest a valuable experience for the writers and producers of NCHS, but it’s also a night to watch some of the many theatre students perform some extra plays. The Dramafest plays incorporat actors and actresses from all grades involved .
Freshman actor Jack Dunn was involved in four plays for this Dramafest production, and enjoyed participating in each one. “We had some incredibly talented new writers and actors who caught on really quickly and were so open to the process,” he said. “We all learn from each other, and it’s so much fun to see everyone else’s vision come to life alongside your own.”
Jack worked with many actors to make this show work and committed time to rehearsals and auditions for the stories. “For this year’s Dramafest, the rehearsal schedule was more based around what days and times everyone can do it, which was very helpful,” he said. “We did have multiple rehearsals for the shows as well to ensure the full understanding of everyone’s lines, costumes, and blocking.”
Junior Jenny Daly acted in the second place show “The Young Strange Girls Guide to the Peculiar Thought Dynasty”, which was written by junior Kaitlyn Sandvik. “It’s definitely a special opportunity and a lot of fun to be a part of,” Jenny said. “The cast was awesome, and our rehearsals were always quite lively and energetic to say the least.”
Students wrapped up this year’s production with high hopes for next year’s Dramafest. “So many people entered, and the shows were all so interesting and well written,” Jenny said. “There was a good variation of comedic and serious shows, it was a great opportunity to be a part of it.”
