While most of their peers were home for a snow day, South Lakes theater students headed over to the Virginia Thespian Festival last Thursday, bringing home accolades and awards. Held in Tysons from January 9-11, over 1,500 theater students from over 50 Virginia schools attended the event, which was organized by the Virginia chapter of the International Thespian Society.

South Lakes students who attended were given the chance to prepare a performance or presentation that showcased their acting skills or technical accomplishments from their past plays. Their performances were scored and given a rating out of 20. A rating from 18-20 is considered ‘superior’, which is what most students were looking to achieve. 

Junior Emilie Fiske achieved, “two superiors… for my solo acting and my duet acting with Layla Hafey.” 

The SLHS Theater Department got 31 superiors total, more than any of the other schools in attendance.

Aside from performances, the festival also offered workshops to help students improve their skills. Many were led by professionals in the industry, which served not only to teach them, but also to help them learn about the realities of working in the theater industry. 

Fiske said that some of her favorite workshops were, “One Act Play Writing, Finding Your Voice in Film, and Playwriting 101. We also did Ballroom Dancing, Script Formatting, and Sketch Comedy [workshops].”

On the final day, select students who excelled in their individual performances were invited to perform for everyone in attendance on the main stage of the festival. Of the nine students invited to the main stage, two, Sitina Tocherman and Clara Neag, were from South Lakes. 

As South Lakes Theater continues to excel, the community is looking forward to their next musical, Once Upon a Mattress, coming in May.