Woburn High School Stage Company to Compete in State Educational Theater Guild Festival Semifinals

WOBURN — Principal Daniel Rasanen is pleased to share that for the first time ever, the Woburn High School Stage Company has advanced to the semifinal round of the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild (METG) High School Festival. 

The students’ performance of “The Dragon, the Witch, and Her Phonebook” won in the Festival’s Preliminary round. 

The play was written by Woburn Memorial High School (WMHS) Theatre Arts Instructor Noah Thomas and his wife Justine Thomas. Students in the stage company then provided feedback to further develop the writing and create the final version. 

The play is a comedic medieval fantasy centered around a witch (Eleanora) who wants to take over the kingdom to get revenge on the giants who destroyed her home when she was younger. 

The forty-minute play features colorful set pieces, live music from a roving band of Bards, outrageous characters and humorous dialogue that showcases the strengths of the student-performers. 

More than 40 students make up the Stage Company. Leads in this production include senior Alison Crowell as Eleanora, senior Charles Johnson as George the dragon, senior Victoria García-De Peña as Heather the peasant and senior Kevin Santos as Prince Cameron. 

Not only did the performance move on from the preliminary round, but it was clear that the judges really loved it, according to Thomas.

One judge remarked that, “The energy it takes to accomplish a production like this is very challenging and your company crushed it.” 

Another said, “Everyone worked together so well, and every person/character was so necessary, so engaged, and contributed to the experience as a whole.”

This is the first time that the Stage Company has advanced past the preliminary round. In 2019, Thomas was hired as a production director and theatre arts educator at WMHS with a goal of growing the theatre program’s size and production quality.

Last year, it was determined that the program had a large enough student company to compete in the Festival for the first time. Out of seven schools that participated in the preliminary round, the Woburn High Stage Company was the only competitor to not advance to semifinals. 

Less than a year later, the Company will compete in the semi-final competition. 

“It was a real rollercoaster, moving from the sinking feeling that we never move on in the competition to finding out that we were indeed advancing, and that the judges really loved every aspect of the show,” said Thomas. 

Semifinals will be held on Saturday, March 15, at Westford Academy in Westford. The day will feature performances from seven high schools, including Burncoat, Mansfield, Middleborough, St. John’s Preparatory School, Swampscott, Westford and Woburn, with Woburn students performing last. 

The students will be putting on a free showing of the play prior to the competition at the high school on Tuesday, March 11, at 7 p.m. 

If the play advances past the semifinal round, the students will perform it at the State Finals in Boston on March 27-29. 

“It is so encouraging to see our theatre students receive praise for their extraordinary talents. There is genuine joy in their performances, and we are pleased to create an environment where students can do something they love while growing as performers,” said Principal Rasanen.