By Kellie Comer, Director of Theatre
Last weekend, the Theatre Department competed at the Connecticut Drama Association Festival in Meriden, CT. It was GFAs first time attending the festival and they took home seven awards, the second most of any school in attendance.
First, our stage management team (Zoma Tessema ‘23, Bri McFarlane ‘26, Liyana Asaria-Issa ‘23, Sadie Paulos ‘23, Chang ‘23, Ella Sato-Connell ‘24, Rosie Cargill ‘24, Brian Twitchell ‘25) was awarded the Stage Management Award, which is given to the backstage crew that is "most organized, works in a spirit of cooperation among themselves and with the festival crew, and demonstrates courtesy and respect."
Second, our entire cast (Ken Caron-Quinn ‘23, Fiona Burton ‘23, Peter Adams ‘24, Eleni Valbuena ‘24, Ava Stevens ‘24, Ben Grimm ‘25, Briana Gomez ‘26) was awarded the Ensemble Acting Award, which is given to a cast "in which the group works closely together in a seamless fashion. One actor does not stand out because all of the actors are so strong."
I am particularly proud of these first two awards, as they are the two "community" focused awards, which is something we stress here at GFA. I am so proud that those values were transferred to this competition.
Individually, Paulos ‘23 was awarded second place in technical excellence for her costume design of The Specialist. Ken Caron-Quinn ‘23 and Briana Gomez ‘26 were awarded All-Connecticut Cast (the theatre equivalent of being named an All-State Athlete) for their performances. Only 10 students in the state were named All-Connecticut Cast this year, and Gomez is the only freshman to be awarded that honor.
In the award that mattered most to the students, we walked away with the People's Choice award, which is voted upon by their peers at the festival.
Finally, we received second place in the Overall Theatrical Excellence category, which is the highest award given.