After a successful performance in the preliminaries, the Leominster High School Theatre Company will have to wait to compete after the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild suspended the state’s annual drama competition among concerns over the threat of the coronavirus.

Every year Leominster High School’s Theatre company, or (LHTC), competes in a statewide drama competition called “Festival”.

In the months that have passed, the students involved in the LHTC have worked endlessly to develop an award winning presentation of the play Lord of the Flies in hopes of reaching and possibly even winning the finals.

In the prelims they earned the following awards:

Excellence in Blood Effects: Mia Mahoney, Aaron Santana, Emily Youtt
Excellence in Costume Design & Execution: Sarah DeAmicis, Kylie Perrault, Emily Valeri
Excellence in Acting for the role of Jack: Marilyn Wilson
Excellence in Stage Management: Emily Dotson
Excellence in Technical Direction, Set Design, Lighting Design, & Special FX: Katelyn Wright
Excellence in Prop Design & Execution: Sarah Pollock, Ethan Vettese, Gavin Robillard, Chelsea Sarfo
Excellence in Acting for the role of Piggy: Anya Saben

The competition is split into three stages, those stages  being the preliminary round (prelims), the semifinal round (semis), and the final round.

Our own Leominster High Theatre Company was able to move on with two other schools at their show site during the preliminary round. Their performance earned them a spot in the semifinals.

Although everyone involved has shown much excitement, with the recent rise in concern involving the Coronavirus, the officials of the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild or METG for short, have started to take precautions that have devastated most of the schools competing.

A recent update informed the festival participants that the semifinal round will be postponed until a date later than April 6th.

The students here at LHS, as well as at every other school that has moved on to semis, will now have to wait to do the thing that they’re so very passionate about, perform.