Dramatic wins for NRHS
Published 10:11 pm Monday, November 25, 2013
Nansemond River High School theater seniors pause for a photo.
Nansemond River High School’s competitive performing arts team has scooped another batch of awards, at the Virginia Theater Association’s Annual Conference and High School Theater Festival and other competitions.
Its play “The Diviners,” directed by drama teacher Joleen Neighbours, won Honorable Mention for the State, a news release says.
The production also won Best Actor for senior Christian Ellis, and All-State Actor for senior Lauren Farrar.
Ellis won the award on the back of a Virginia High School League Regional Actor award at the 4A VHSL Regionals, held in Glen Allen and where the team came in third place.
Nansemond River High School performing arts students Lauren Farrar and Savannah Miller show the awards they recently scooped, which are among several from the decorated drama program.
The annual conference and festival took place in Reston from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27.
Meanwhile, the school won first place in the state competition for comedy and improvisation, with Sydney Pressley, Lauren Farrar, Rolonzo Rawls, Harold Hodge, Ellis and Vicky Peterson taking home the top prize for comedy.
Yet more awards came at the state High School New Play Competition, where Hodge, a senior, won second place overall, and Savannah Miller, a freshman, third place overall.
Both students earned their respective honors with the submission of full-length plays, judged alongside new plays from high school students across Virginia.
Playwriting awards were also won at the conference in the annual On-the-Spot Playwriting Competition — Farrar with third place overall and Miller with second place overall.
Pressley received yet another honor when she was elected president of the Virginia Theater Association Student Board of Directors; Emily Hunter and Hannah York were also named to the state board.
“In addition to the awards, Nansemond River seniors auditioned for many collegiate and university performing arts programs, receiving over 30 callbacks while at the Virginia Theatre Association Conference,” the release states.
The students’ next performance for the Suffolk community will be with “Alice in Wonderland,” set for 7 p.m. Dec. 12, 13 and 14, while a series of one-act plays is planned for January and June, as well as the annual spring musical in April.
“With a continually growing performing arts program, Nansemond River High School is rapidly becoming well-known for its fine arts programs, along with the school’s other superb academic areas,” the news release states.
