Eagle Era

Students at AHS are recognized for their performances at a regional theatre competition

By Lisa Shokoor

From February 6th to February 8th, AHSPA took the stage at the annual Lenaea High School Theatre Festival, an event celebrating high school theatre departments across Northern California and Nevada. This was AHSPA’s second time competing at the festival and its first year winning awards. 

AHSPA’s performance of How to Get Away with a Murder Mystery at the festival earned Gold distinctions in One-Act Performances and in Student Direction. 

Ayaan Arif (11), who played Mr. Burgundy in the comedic one-act, shared how meaningful it was to win awards. He said, “It felt really uplifting because the week before we were coming in early and leaving late. I felt like all of the work was worth it; the payoff was great.”      

AHSPA placed in every category it was eligible for, with Silver and Bronze distinctions in Monologue Performances, Bronze in Set Design, Bronze and Silver in Duo-Scenes, and Bronze and Silver in Musical Theatre performances. 

The cast members bowed after their performance at Theatre 70 (Photo Credit: Lisa Shokoor).

Sana Arora (11) won the Respondent’s Choice Award for her ability to adapt to feedback across two performances of a musical theatre piece. “I was nervous because it’s a competition that’s really big in the theatre world. A lot of schools from California and other states go there, so it was really exciting to see your and everyone else’s names on stage.” 

Celina Minoji (12), who played Frazzled Lady in the one-act and performed a duo-scene with Orna Paul (12), reflected, “This year was special because AHSPA worked really hard, and we practically won a full sweep of awards. Judging is extremely subjective—it depends on the person. We didn’t know if what we were doing would be received well, and it was great to know it was.”

The one-act was also shown in Theatre 70 for AHS students during a one-night-only showcase. Melina Rojas (11) appreciated the quality of this performance. “I had high expectations going into it, because I know the cast and crew are already great,” she said. “But somehow they went beyond my expectations.”

The close bond between the cast and crew was one of the highlights of their performance. “You can tell that the cast has great chemistry,” said Rojas. “Nothing was forced; it felt natural but still hilarious.”

One of the directors of the one-act, Cinthana Santhakumar (12) said, “The cast was so close. At Lenaea, a lot of what our judges said was about our respect for each other. Tech had their own bows at the end, which isn’t typical in theatre, but it really showed how we as a program care about each other.”

Yumeng Fang (10), the Assistant Props Master and the technical director for the one-act, explained how the play went at the free showing at AHS and the Lenaea Festival. “Our first show went so well,” she said. “We didn’t have a lot of confidence before, but when we performed it, it was like everything paid off. The showing at AHS was for us together as a team to show people what we’re working on.” 

The wins at Lenaea reflected AHSPA’s commitment to theatre, showing how a strong foundation and hard work can pay off. “This win helped us feel seen and represented,” Arora said.

Santhakumar agreed, “Taking our program to Lenaea was easier because we were all so driven. We had two months to pull our pieces together, and we got it done.”