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Each March, SPHS drama students participate in the annual Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival. In 2017, SPHS was one of over 60 schools to compete in this two-day festival that welcomed over 1600 students from all over the Southland to the campus of Fullerton College.
SPHS students competed in several categories: Classical Monologue, Classical Ensemble, Contemporary Monologue, and Contemporary Ensemble. Highlights included selections from Richard III, Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid, and Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off.
“It was a carnival atmosphere,” said drama club adviser Nick Hoffa. “The quad was absolutely filled with tents and excited young actors were running all over the place. You’d see two students who looked like they were having a fight and realized they were running lines from Neil Simon. The energy was incredible.”
Junior, Mateo Diez, said of the experience, “It was overwhelming and exciting to see all the other competitors and I was inspired to come back stronger next year!”
In addition to the categories SPHS competed in, schools can enter teams in technical theater, improv, and musical theater. Expanding to more categories is a goal Mr Hoffa would like to see for next year. He says there are so many talented kids at SPHS and widening to the musical or tech will give them even more chances to strut their stuff.
“I could not have been prouder of how well SPHS performed,” says Hoffa. “The students did some really challenging material but were prepared, committed, and really funny. And the judges recognized that, giving our kids excellent feedback.”
