By J.D. O’Gara

Next month, on March 19th, Franklin High School thespians will put their techniques to the test right on their own home turf. Franklin High School auditorium will be the location of a preliminary round of the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild’s (METG) High School Drama Festival on March 19th. The school has participated since 2014 in the annual festival, a competitive program that typically includes 112 one-act plays produced by member high schools. Franklin has participated in the program since 2014 and last hosted the preliminary round in 2016. This year, 92 schools will participate, with seven schools each performing a play at Franklin High next month.

Franklin High thespians are preparing their submission, a one-act play entitled Cave Dream, for the upcoming METG High School Drama Festival, with the preliminary round taking place on their home FHS stage.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to host,” says drama teacher Skylar Grossman, who points out that about 15 students will participate as cast members and 10 more will participate behind-the-scenes as crew. “We won’t know which high schools are coming here until February 8th. We are preparing our one-act play called Cave Dream, by Alan Haehnel.”  When Local Town Pages met with Grossman, drama students were participating in their first rehearsal for the theater festival, practicing a technique known as Laban movement, based on the teachings of Rudolf Laban (1879-1958), an Austro-Hungarian dancer, choreographer and dance / movement theoretician.

“I chose to focus on movement, because the 10 of them are playing rock creatures, playing these super fantastical characters that require them to produce strong physical and vocal choices,” says Grossman. “We’re starting with movement work, so they can continue to build their characters through the rehearsal process.”

According to the METG website (www.metg.org), schools that advance from the Preliminary Round will compete at the 2022 High School Festival Regionals on the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd. From that round, fourteen Regional Winners will be chosen. Franklin High School made it to the regionals level two years ago, which at the time was known as semi-finals.

“This year, due to a (COVID-influenced) truncated timeline, preliminaries are going to occur on the 19th, and the shows are adjudicated by upwards of two to three professional experts,” explains Grossman. Student plays are judged on acting achievement and technical design and theatre. 

“The location of regionals depend on which schools are able to host,” says Grossman. In the end, three schools will be chosen according to the highest accolades.

Schools are situated based on masked or unmasked status of the show.

“It’s all or nothing,” says Grossman. While the non-masked sites may feature non-masked performers, he explains, everyone else, including crew members, will be masked. 

Grossman explains that there is no monetary prize involved in the METG High School Theater Festival. “It’s about honor and achievement, and the FHS Theatre Company eats, sleeps, breathes, loves the theatre festival. It’s an opportunity for (students) to not only showcase their own work, but they get to watch and experience other schools and their programs and what they can provide. It’s so fun, it’s educational, and there’s a streak of competitiveness. I think that’s why my kids love it so much.”

The Franklin High School preliminary round is open to the public. Those that attend are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and there is a $10 per show ticket fee, payable at the door, that will benefit METG.

“METG uses their funding to help provide enrichment opportunities for students, professional development opportunities for teachers and help to support scholarship initiatives for students who participate in various competitions and festivals,” says Grossman.

The METG High School Theater Festival is supported in part by Cultural Council funds from Massachusetts cities and towns, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.