This weekend, DHS ACTS competed in Dramafest on Saturday, March 1st, with the play Submerged, walking away with two awards. Sophomore Hope Panagoulias won an award for acting and senior Oscar Armenta won an award for set design.
Every February, DHS Academy Theatre Society (DHS ACTS) competes in the METG (Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild) Drama Festival. This festival, also called Dramafest, hosts local high school theatre groups who compete with one-act plays that must be 40 minutes or less. There are multiple first-round competitions, which lead to the semi-finals, and the top two schools from semi-finals move on to finals. All performances are given scores and awards individually.
DHS’ entry this year, Submerged, follows a trapped submarine crew, victims of a violent storm, who believe that only sacrifice can result in their rescue. Submerged contained many violent and emotional moments, and as a result, the actresses and actors of DHS were given many opportunities to display their own artistic expression and decisions. Sophomore Hope Panagoulias did an outstanding job presenting her character Brice and his fragile state of mind, depicting a very realistic panic attack during the show. Junior Bella Drakos who played Jorgson also did a fantastic job, her character being a stubborn hothead able to execute the revenge no one else had the guts to execute. MacAndrews, the Submarine’s captain, was played by junior Dailin Martinez, and she very accurately portrayed the captain as a humble and stern man who was willing to sacrifice anything for his crew. During the preview of the show, these actresses’ jarring performances evoked an extremely heavy feeling from the crowd. While watching Submerged, the audience felt extremely immersed in the hopelessness of the submarine crew’s situation.
Clay LaVergne Shaw, a co-author of Submerged, is famously known for being the only suspect brought to trial for the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Authorities still debate his involvement in the assassination, although Lee Harvey Oswald was the man arrested for it.
Along with Panagoulias, Drakos and Martinez, Shaw was played by senior Taylor Albano, Dunn was played by freshman Marley Beaulieu, and Nabb was played by senior Sarah Kirby. There were two swing characters as well, played by senior Katelyn Bushey and freshman Tony Vittoria. The play also featured a trumpet solo after the death of one of the characters, “Taps”, played by Bushey.
