Boothbay Region High School (BRHS) Drama Club and student artists garnered several awards and recognitions at the 2023 Maine Drama Festival regional competition held March 10-11 at Camden Hills High School.

Rachel Barter and Grace Campbell received student writer awards and playwright recognition for “The Census Taker,” an original play co-written by the two, based on a poem by Robert Frost, and performed by the club. The performance won the club first runner up in overall competition and the silver trophy for Class B schools (schools with fewer than 500 students). Campbell, for her role as The Census Taker, Kai Pitcher as Warren, and Eric Maki as Apple Guy were honored with individual acting awards. Co-writer Barter designed and operated lighting for the play.

The play gives nods to traditional Frost themes of isolation and abandonment; a countryside with a dwindling population, a home in disrepair, and the melancholy act of counting souls. True to the poem, the Census Taker finds hope in the continuation of life in a brilliant and surprising final scene. This literary play offers many famous Frost quotes and excerpts including “Orion Always Comes Up Sideways,” which became the inspiration for the club’s T-shirts as designed by student artist Pitcher.

“I don’t think people know who much (work) goes into one of these competitions,” said Dr. Mary Miller, BRHS faculty and Drama Club sponsor. The club works for many months to design the set and costumes, refine lighting and sound, study subject matter and learn lines and stage movements. Competition days begin before 7 a.m.  and conclude at midnight. “We began writing this play about this time last year,” said Campbell during the final day of the festival. “Rachel, Grace and I met every Monday for about a year,” Miller said about writing and producing the play.

Other actors in the play include Suzie Edwards, Skyla Carrier, Mathew Little and Rose Campbell. Other production crew members are Miller, Susie Taylor, Justine Marshall, Ivory Cody, Rose Campbell, Caitlin Shepherd and Paulette Carter.

The competition is sponsored by Maine Principals’ Association and Maine Drama Council. The event includes 80 schools, more than 2,000 high school students, with the stated purpose of encouraging high school theater and giving dedicated young performers the opportunity to see the best work of others who have the same passion for the stage.

BRHS’s first runner up status falls short of advancing to the Maine State Drama Festival State Finals, March 24-25 at Ellsworth High School for Class B schools, and Lawrence High School for Class A (over 500 students) schools. Regional finalists from across Maine will compete for an opportunity to advance to the New England Drama Festival in April.

Oceanside High School in Rockland won Class B and will advance to the finals for its comical play “13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview,” by Ian McWethy. Gorham High School won Class A and will advance to the state final for “The Terezin Promise,” by Celeste Raspanti; it is an emotional play about a group of Czech Jews who risked their lives to preserve art during the Holocaust.

Oceanside, Wiscasset High School, North Haven Community School and BRHS make up the region’s Class B schools; Camden Hills High School, Gorham High, Portland High, and Falmouth High the Class A schools. Judges for the competition were Barbara Helen Baker, Elaine Bard and Emily Bartley.