Between the stress of other classes, having no theater teacher for two weeks, and an upcoming competition, Santaluces’ theater students still walked away with success at the annual Florida State Thespians Districts competition.
On Saturday, high school theater troupes around the county competed at West Boca High School. Students perform their pieces, whether they be monologues, duets, or other categories, and are judged on their skill. The highest score students can earn is a superior, much like other performing arts competitions.
Santaluces earned superiors in five performances between eight students – seniors Genesis Santiago, Bethany Bertram, Shannon Lechon, Elizabeth Wait, Abbey Brannock, Sydney Toolis and juniors Kendall Moe, Rachel Smallcomb and Holly Draper walked away with medals and qualified to perform at the state level.
“It’s the first [superior] I’ve ever gotten,” said Toolis. “I’m super excited because I think that we all did very well, and I’m proud of all of us as a troupe.”
This year, the new drama teacher Ms. Ellington only had a week before districts to help students improve their performances, so Ms. Ellington is determined to help students bring even stronger performances to states.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of my Tomahawk players,” said Ellington. “[They were] all banding together after the situation we’ve had this year, having such a strong representation at the district level, and doing so well under all the stress and pressure they’ve had.”
The Florida State Thespians festival takes place in Tampa on March 25-29th, which happens to be the same weekend as prom.
