BRHS Drama struck gold in Class B (schools with fewer than 450 students) competition at the Maine Drama Festival’s regional One Acts tournament held at Medomak Valley High School, Saturday, March 8, with their production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (adapted by Henry Thomas, provided by Concord Theatrics), beating three other schools to bring home the gold trophy and winning the opportunity to advance to state-level competition March 21-22 in Millinocket. 

Six students won Festival All Cast Acting Awards: Eleanor Marshall (Hermia), Natalie Flagg (Puck), Zuriel Smith (Fairy), Titan Lewis (Demetrius), Sarah Harris (Helena), and Olivia Carlson (Fairy). Hannah Hills received a Special Commendation for Cue-to-Cue Calling (Stage Management), and the team won a Special Commendation for Color Pallet, Gripping and Set Layout (Caitlin Shepherd, accepted by Spencer Pottle). Other winners included North Haven Community School, runner up/Silver Award Class B for “Horrors” by Don Nigro, Freeport High School runner up/Silver Award Class A (schools with more than 450 students) for “Charley” by Maddy Anderson, Mara Dale, Haley Demmons, Mira Goldman and Jojo Mezzapelle, and Oceanside High School (OHS) winner/Gold Award Class A for “Aunt Leaf” by Barbara Wiechmann. OHS will advance to state-level Class A competition.

The festival, sponsored by Maine Principal’s Association and Maine Drama Council, hosts seven regional competitions with winners advancing to state-level competitions. Winners from the state-level competitions advance to the New England Theater Festival May 1-3, this year in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Picture an ethereal set; large wooden frames wrapped in flowing sheers of colorful fabrics, expertly illuminated through alternating stage lights, a hauntingly large moon, forest trees and endless summer flowers creating a sense of liminal states and dreamlike wonder. Then contrast with high-energy acting – often blunt and packed with dramatic irony, Athenian nobility, mischievous fairies, vibrantly colored costumes and the time-tested wit of a master playwright. The result is a side-splitting comedy, a stage full of silliness and delight, and a gold trophy to back it up. The only question the audience was left pondering was how many minutes it would take the judges to come back and announce BRHS’s victory.

Love is complicated. There are overreaching parents hell-bent on choosing your mate, your heart’s true desires, social and class expectations, a full moon and meddlesome fairies adding frenzy to an already chaotic situation. “I wanted to play something loose and silly,” said Natalie Flagg (Puck), “something out of my comfort zone.” Indeed, not only were Flagg’s onstage antics mesmerizing, but they were also acrobatic, a cartwheel perfectly timed with dramatic tension left the audience gasping. No sooner had the audience regained composure, Sophia Mansfield (Bottom) came out of nowhere rolling onto the stage to be crowned with a donkey mask. And Sarah Harris (Helena) got dragged along the stage, desperately wrapped around Titan Lewis’ (Demetrius) leg. Harris and Lewis were each brilliant in their love-sickness, of course, not toward each other and Elijah Smith (Lysander) and Marshall (Hermia) were the too-perfect couple you knew to be doomed. Jayden Coulombe’s (Oberon) devilish match-making aspirations, all to teach his wife Ivory Cody (Titania) a lesson, lead to anticipated catastrophe while she slept.

Meanwhile, Spencer Pottle (Egeus) puffed-chest and demanding, looks to Matthew Little (Theseus) to uphold his arranged marriage, but it’s too late – spells have been cast then broken, couples formed and parted and reformed, all with the help, destruction and help again of a cast of rascally fairies: Zuriel Smith, Aubrey Holmes, Annie Whitney, Carlson and Flagg.

Intricate details and individual flare took this solid Shakespearian performance to the next level. Lewis was eerily great at sneaking gropes and making lewd advancements, Marshall raised the bar for the pouty-stomp, Flagg’s intentional lankiness supplanted the need for fairy wings, Harris’ languished pining was over-sold in the best ways, Mansfield’s maturity in embracing the utter ridiculousness of having a donkey head was heel clicking. Why walk across the stage when you can skip?

Production staff included: Dr. Mary Miller, Director, Assistant Director; Susie Taylor, Set Design; Caitlin Shepherd, Makeup Design; Kia Pitcher, Lights and Running Crew; Moriah Smith, Sound; Jessica Raeburn, Stage Management; Hills.

The annual event includes about 80 schools, more than 2,000 high school students, with the stated purpose of encouraging high school theater and giving dedicated young performers the chance to see the best work of others who have the same passion for the stage. Judges for the regional competition were Matthew Dobson, Thomas Frey and Rob Juergens. Festival Hosts, Maida Cordero and Heather Webster, Festival Technical Director; Matthew Kopishke, MPA Drama Committee; Melissa Davis, MDC Representative; Tom Heath, Student Tech Support; Mia Flagg and CJ Pluecker, with special thanks to; Colin Sutch, Micheala Lorentzen, Class of 2025, Class of 2028, MVHS Players.