By: Sarah Joy (Correspondent)

The preliminary round of the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild highschool festival has concluded, Sharon High School Theatre Company (SHSTC) is one out of the forty-one who moved on. 

On the 29th of February, SHSTC went to compete with six other schools at Joseph Case High School in Swansea, MA. The six other schools excluding Joseph Case, were Holliston High, Milton High, Middleborough High, Silver Lake High, and Bishop Feehan Catholic High.

The day started off with a six-fifteen departure from Sharon High and seven-thirty arrival at Joseph Case. 

“Everybody was grouped together, it was so positive…and I loved when everyone greeted us through the doors…one of the best days I have had in a while,” said Ashley Nelson, a freshman. 

The first show Darcy and Elizabeth, a take on the Jane Austin play Pride and Prejudice, was performed by Silver Lake Highschool at nine A.M. The second show was Bishop Feehan’s All of Us, which took place while SHSTC prepped for their show which came after the 15-minute break that followed. 

Sharon High School performed their show Liberators at 11:15, “It’s a heightened state of emotions, it’s a lot of energy and genuine euphoria which manifests in serval different ways for example as nervousness, as happiness, and as excitement,” said sophomore Carter Danto. 

Students from other schools commented about the running water system SHSTC had on stage, the acting that pulled at people’s heartstrings, and the striking set that was so dynamic and crisp. “I heard a lot during our debriefing about how people went up to my company members and said that they were in awe and they were thinking about our show which is the best thing we could hope for,” said freshman Alexis Maron. 

Breathe Low, a murder mystery and student-written play from Holliston Highschool followed as the fourth show of the day. “My favorite show was Breathe Low, I loved their humor and comedic timing, as well as innovative use of technical elements,” said senior Jack Price. A small lunch break followed the play where students socialized between the schools. Middlebouroghs Oz, a take on the classic musical The Wizard of Oz, came next. 

Milton Highschool then presented The Women of Lockerbie, an emotion whirlwind based on the Pan-Am 103 Terrorist Bombing. “The Woman of Lockerbie was very emptional and made it so that you connected a lot with the characters,” said freshman Audrey Trivedi.

 The last show of the day was Joseph Case’s Conversation With A Sphink, an adaptation on the myth Oedipus that had you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire show.  After all the shows had performed, students had dinner in the cafeteria while the judges conversed. After dinner, there was a party and time to socialize with other students. 

The award ceremony is the last thing that takes place that day, all the anticipation that had been building up that day was finally coming to an end. “During the day it’s definitely a lot of fun, intense emotions; intense excitement especially near the end of the day during the award ceremony,” said sophomore Grace MIller-Trabold. 

“When we finally got the good news that we were moving on, everyone started crying and hugging and there was such amazing, emotional energy,” Miller-Trabold said.  

The semi-final competition will take place at Sharon High on March 14th where Sharon will compete against 5 other schools. There will be other schools across the state that will host semi-final rounds as well.