After experiencing success at districts, the Theatre program placed third in the Feb. 10 Northern Region festival hosted by Lake Braddock High School.
The competition involved judging one-act plays. Marshall’s entry, “The Sea,” was directed by theatre teacher Mark Krikstan.
Despite their first place win over Stone Bridge High School and three other schools in the Liberty District competition, Marshall placed third overall at regionals. Junior Sarah Chapin was awarded Best Actress.
According to sophomore Marcelo Guzman, the judging during the regional competition was flawed. Marshall was awarded 383 points; however, Westfield High School was declared the second place winner despite being awarded 378 points.
Judges of One Acts assess performances based on three categories, IB Theatre 2 student Austin Hoskins, senior, said. These categories consisted of Technical Aspect, Creativity in Director Aspect and Acting Clarity.
Each respective category is an evaluation of how well the stage is managed, how well the play has been directed, and how well each actor portrays their character, according to Hoskins.
Overall, judging is subjective rather than objective, senior Macaulley Quirk explained, and is based on what judges believe is “good theatre,” rather than where “actual talent” is. However, individual talent is recognized in individual categories, such as Best Actor.
“I think that [subjective judging] ruins the fun of it all,” Quirk said. “You kind of have to appease the judges and not necessarily do what you love.”
Guzman, however, remained satisfied with the progress that the theatre program made, and was “pleased” with its district win.
“It felt good, I was happy,” Guzman said. “It was a lot of things happening at once, and finding out that we won just made it all better.”
This is not the first time that Theatre has gotten state recognition for their one-act plays. However, according to Quirk, the program has consistently done better under the direction of Krikstan.
With his return from retirement, theater has experienced a revival, especially when compared to the period of Krikstan’s retirement in which theatre “died down a little,” Quirk said.