Oh, the Drama! San Marin Students Star at Lenaea Festival

The hard work of San Marin High School's Advanced Drama Department students paid off last weekend with two gold medals and two silvers at the 57th annual Lenaea Drama Festival at Folsom Lake College.

The festival, which attracted students from 50 schools, is one of the most prestigious drama events for high schoolers in the country.

Kyra Nilsen won gold for her monologue from The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman, and Julia Raven and Jack Tooley took gold for a scene from Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon. They presented their work  in front of 1,200 participants at a Command Performance on Feb. 3.

Silver medals were awarded to Liam Hoefer and Roslyn Myr for a scene from Proof by David Auburn, and Kali Grimaldi for a monologue from Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver.

Making the medal round is quite an achievement since there were 172 monologues, 84 scenes and 41 one-act plays in all.

All 23 students performed their one-act play, CSI: Neverland by Wade Bradford, to an enthusiastic audience who couldn’t stop laughing, according to drama teacher Linda Kislingbury. "This amazing competition is a real learning experience for the students who perform their monologues and scenes in front of professional judges who then workshop each piece with the students," Kislingbury said. "Judges were positive and gave the students excellent feedback.

Kislingbury said the students perfecting their scenes and monologues and the play for several months, often coming in at lunch hour and after school to rehearse.

“I am so proud of all these students," Kislingbury said. "... The best part for me is to see how they support each other through the competition — real teamwork in action.”

This spring, San Marin Drama is offering Kaufman and Hart’s The Man Who Came to Dinner. Performances are May 3, 4, 6, 10, 11 and 13. San Marin Drama is part of San Marin ARTS and Technical ARTS, better known as smARTt.  

Stay Patched in! Follow Novato Patch on Twitter | Like Novato Patch on Facebook | Sign up for the daily e-mail with links to the latest news.