Students from more than 40 Maryland high schools gathered at the University of Maryland, College Park last month for the Maryland Thespian Festival. Students from La Plata, Henry E. Lackey, Maurice J. McDonough, North Point and St. Charles high schools gathered accolades and awards at the two-day event honoring student achievement in theater.
Along with competitions and one-act performances, the festival boosted more than 300 workshops led by industry insiders and opportunities to audition for college programs. The One-Act Festival at the event allows troupes from around the state to perform and learn.
Below is information about the awards presented at the festival.
The Distinguished Senior Thespian Award acknowledges the contributions a senior has made to both their thespian troupe and school community. The award honors students who are dedicated to the International Thespian Society and their high school theater programs. Troupe directors can submit one senior for the award. Elora Edwards of La Plata and Annie Sullivan of McDonough were named distinguished senior thespians. The La Plata troupe director is Jennifer Joyner. Jana Heyl is McDonough’s troupe director.
The All-State Thespian Award was given to the following students: Annie Sullivan, Skylar Belisle, Emma Curry, Laila Holloway, Naomi James, Olivia Grier, Layla Dodson and Ada Donohue, all of McDonough. La Plata students Elora Edwards, Mackenzie Fox, Thomas Carpenter, Lochlan McGuire, Jada Ferguson, Amy Miller and Chance Hoard also earned the award.
The Quiz Bowl is a Jeopardy-style competition that tests contestants’ theater knowledge. The team from McDonough won this year. Team members were Annie Sullivan, Laila Holloway, Joel Escobar and Brett Wood.
St. Charles won the Trash Costumes competition during which teams vie for the largest applause for creating costumes from discarded items. The team was made up of William Bates, Miriah Butler, Kaniece Konan and Christian Baylor.
Best acting awards in one-act shows went to Annie Sullivan and William Zabriskie of McDonough, and Julian Mode and Curtis Houston of Lackey.
During the 2023 One-Act Festival at the event, McDonough earned awards for Outstanding Costumes and Outstanding Production Staff for its one-act, “Puffs (One-Act for Young Wizards).”
Several CCPS students qualified for the International Thespian Excellence Awards, or Thespys. The students will move on to the competition at the International Thespian Festival this summer in Bloomington, Ind. Winners include McDonough students Annie Sullivan for both of her musical theater solos, Laila Holloway for musical theater solo, Maritessa Fetterman for musical theater solo, Brett Wood for musical theater solo, Ada Donohue and Erin Miller for duet acting, and Mya Sellers for costume design. Jana Heyl is the troupe’s sponsor. Winners from La Plata include Lillie Wright for acting solo and Elora Edwards for musical theater dance solo. Jennifer Joyner is the troupe’s director. Winners from St. Charles include William Bates and Alex Johnson for duet acting, Cadence Dye for solo acting and Laila Franklin for solo acting. Sponsors are Ben Simpson and Timothy LaBelle.
Karra Paulson of North Point won for musical theater solo and solo acting. John Minor is the North Point sponsor.
Click here to learn more about the Maryland Thespian Festival.
