By DIVYA SUBRAHMANYAM Palisadian-Post Intern Last Saturday, Palisades Charter High School had the honor of hosting and participating in the annual Drama Teachers Association of Southern California (DTASC) Fall Festival. After the day-long competitive event, Pali came away with third place overall, as well as several awards in the individual categories. Pali entered the festival in each of 10 categories: publicity, sets/lights and costumes (all of which were in the technical division), monologue, two-person, screenplay, student-written on a social issue, musical, group drama, and group serious. Students began arriving as early as 6:30 a.m., and by 7:30, most of the 62 competing schools had each claimed an area on the quad as their own. Pali students spread blankets near a brick wall next to the cafeteria, and were huddled together against the early morning chill. Some of them were lounging on the bench, chatting, while others seemed to be full of nervous energy. “Will you fix my hair?” asked a bouncy Teagan Miller of her friend, holding out a hairpin. Before the opening ceremonies, Monica Iannessa, Pali’s drama teacher and the school organizer of the event, gathered her students together in a classroom, telling them all how proud she was of them. She also gave them some valuable advice: “I want to impart the very important message that we have to spread goodwill today’We need to drop the petty.” When the announcement came from the outdoor stage for round one to begin, a crush of people spread out across the quad as students tried to find their assigned classrooms. I decided to follow the Pali “group drama” actors (“The Lion in Winter”), who were placed in the same room as nine other groups. Each performance had an 8-minute time limit, and actors were allowed four chairs as their only props. The room was filled with surprising mutual respect, and gracious applause followed every scene. Outside, after round one, senior Griffin Pepper (“The Lion in Winter”) said, “I’m a little nervous, because in the second round, you don’t have as much energy. But I’m still really pumped!” Once round two had finished, lunch began on the quad, with Pali’s own jazz band performing on stage. Students mingled with one another, and large circles of dancers sprung up on the grass. In an effort to further bring together participants, the organizers asked each class to identify themselves. They called out each year: “Sophomores! Juniors! Seniors!” and huge roars erupted. The yelling was carried by students striking up their own chants. Calls of “’06!” were returned with even louder cries of “’07!” as the schools were united in their common identity as high school students who loved acting. The semi-final results were announced soon after, the approximately 30 schools in each category written on long posters. Pali made it in all seven acting categories; the technical divisions presented only once and had no semi-final round. During another break, students gathered on the quad once again, dancing to music from the speakers, talking, laughing, and playing games. At around 4:30 p.m., soon before the results would be read out, the speakers began playing “Seasons of Love,” a popular song from the musical “Rent.” Everyone seemed to know the words, and a throng of people flocked in front of the stage to sing along with swaying arms. When the music changed to something more upbeat, these same people, all from different schools, grabbed on to one another’s shoulders, and a huge conga line snaked crazily around the school. Then came the moment of reckoning. As the posters revealing the top groups in each category unfurled above the stage, shrieks and squeals echoed across the quad from excited finalists. Pali made it in five categories, with the exception of screenplay and comedy. The cast of “The Lion in Winter” excitedly congregated in front of B101, where all the group drama finalists would be performing. Junior Spencer Strasmore fluidly shook out his arms and legs in his version of jiu-jitsu, insisting, with a laugh, that it helped him loosen up. Travis DeZarn, also a junior, said, “There’s a lot of stiff competition but we made it to the top ten, and that’s all that matters.” Once the judges had tabulated the results of the final round, at around 6:45 p.m., all participants jammed into Pali’s big gym for the awards ceremony. During the wait, the competition among schools seemed to become far more evident. “Whose house?” yelled one Pali student, and received the customary response of “P-House!” Some fans, also in marching band, began to loudly hum the school’s fight song, in another display of solidarity. The atmosphere within the group varied: some were nervous, others seemed to not care. “What happens, happens,” said Teagan Miller (“A Lion in Winter”). “It’s pretty much out of my control now, so I’m relaxed.” Finally, the DTASC director quieted the crowd, and informed them that there would be a surprise guest speaker to begin the ceremony’Val Kilmer. The star of “Batman Forever,” who attended Chatsworth High School, walked through the door to a standing ovation and exclamations of “Look, it’s Batman!” He gave a short speech, and was followed by the director, who then introduced the DTASC Festival’s newest, most informal category: the video showcase. This event did not count in Sweepstakes (the overall ranking), and the winners received a giant cookie rather than a conventional trophy. Pali received third place in this category. The awards were given out in order: the top 10 groups in each category were called up to the floor, and places 10 through six received honorable mentions. The top five received a trophy and a certificate, and the first-place scene performed to the huge audience. Pali’s rankings were as follows: publicity’third place; sets and lights’second; monologue (in which more than one participant from each school could compete)’fifth place and second place; and honorable mentions in group drama, two-person, and costumes. They placed third in Sweepstakes. When asked how she felt with an honorable mention, Teagan Miller said: “I’m happy; I had fun and it was a good experience.” This seemed to be the general consensus. There were the usual tears and bitterness for a low placing, or for not making it to finals, but overall, people seemed satisfied. Lauren Hunziker, from Pali’s two-person scene, summed up the true idea of festival: acting, not necessarily competition. “I think,” she said, referring to the many compliments she received, “to do something that powerful that compels people to make an effort to comment on it to your face is far more rewarding than a plastic trophy that sits in an office and no one remembers.”
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