Recently, the AHS Advanced Theatre and Advanced Stagecraft students won first place at the Drama Teacher’s Association of Southern California (DTASC) Shakespeare Virtual Theatre Competition. 

DTASC’s mission is to create a network where students with a passion for theatre can showcase their skills. AHS Theatre and Stagecraft competed against 50 other high schools throughout Southern California in various scenes and technical designs. 

Advanced Theatre and Stagecraft are not only places to improve one’s skills in production, but also a place for students to build relationships. 

“Advanced Theatre is very much a big family where we operate a lot like a real acting company with two big productions every year,” said sophomore and Advanced Theatre member Marie Sekiguchi. “We also do acting festivals such as DTASC and so far we have won number one in SoCal in the majority of our scenes.”

The DTASC Shakespeare Virtual Theatre Competition was conducted differently this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year, the DTASC Shakespeare competition was a little different because we recorded our scenes over zoom and everything was done online,” said Marie. “We had a little more experience because of last semester’s DTASC but it doesn’t change the fact that once the scene is filmed we just leave it up to the judges and wait anxiously. Overall, though, it was a lot of fun figuring out how to deal with Zoom lag and blocking as well as scripts.”

In every life experience, memories and life lessons are made, whether it be good or bad. 

“This semester, after we won in our category, the four of us in my group met up in the park,” said Marie. “We just talked but that was the best because we actually got to see the awesome people we were working with. One recurring lesson I’ve found throughout the year is just how flexible we can be. When things aren’t ideal we can still push through and work around the obstacles creatively. In fact, resourcefulness can give us just that much more edge. It’s also an important life skill we can carry over when it comes to working with other people.”

While the DTASC Shakespeare Virtual Theatre Competition was extremely competitive,  the AHS Advanced Theatre and Stagecraft students were determined to win it all. They put in many hours for months to get their performance as close to perfect as possible. 

“We usually manage to work our absolute hardest and make sure we stand out from all the other contenders,” said Marie. “It takes months of preparation beforehand and it’s usually cutting the script, rehearsals every week, and trying to cut our time down to the requirement.”

Anyone who wants to join Advanced Theatre or Stagecraft at AHS is gladly accepted as part of their big family.

“We welcome you with open arms!” said Marie. “It’s a lot of fun and you can learn so much from acting in front of big audiences. I won’t lie, it can be a lot of work but if you love theatre it’s absolutely worth it. You can always ask me or the other students for help with auditions, music, or even just emotional and moral support.”

Congratulations to all these young artists who managed to persevere and succeed through these difficult times!

Photo courtesy of Kyle Head on UNSPLASH.COM