Theatre Students Earn Recognition at Mississippi Theatre Association Festival

January 21, 2020 / Upper School/All News

A record-breaking number of JA’s theatre students earned recognition at the Mississippi Theatre Association’s Statewide Festival last weekend. Twenty-two students attended the festival in Oxford Thursday through Saturday, with thirteen students placing in the individual and 10-minute play categories.

The following students were selected to compete in Individual Event Finals:
Phoebe Guinn and Brent Butler – Acting Duet
Reese Anderson, Caitlin Johnson, Stella Allen – Acting Female
Don Waller, Brent Butler, Thomas Arnold – Acting Male
Reese Anderson – Musical Female
Don Waller – Musical Male
Gibson Cheney and Gretchen Morris – Musical Duet

The following students placed in the 10-Minute Play category:
All-Star Cast- Caitlin Johnson, Campbell Duease
Outstanding Tech – Wes Thomas
Outstanding Playwright – Lucy Elfert
Outstanding Cast- “Therapy Thursday” by Lucy Elfert, featuring Campbell Duease
Best Play – “A Very Punk Rock Play” directed by Hensley Moulder, featuring Caitlin Johnson and Rett Stanley

The following students placed in the Individual Event category:
Don Waller, 2nd place, Acting Male
Phoebe Guinn, Hensley Moulder – 2nd place, Original Scene
Don Waller – 1st place, Musical Male
Brent Butler, Phoebe Guinn – 2nd place, Acting Duet
Thomas Arnold, Gibson Cheney, Emma Collums, Lila Robertson – 3rd place, Acting Group

The group shared their activities and answered questions from the audience in a takeover of the school’s Instagram. One question that was posed to the students was, “Is theatre fun to be in?” The students replied, “Yes, and we’d love for you to be a part of our family!”