Eighteen-year-old Connor Haskell has had significantly less drama in his life the past two years, and it’s not something he’s happy about.

Haskell, an actor and playwright at Cheverus High School in Portland, has missed the excitement of doing plays live, without masks in front of an audience. He’s missed being able to share his love of theater with his peers from across the state.

But Haskell will finally get the chance to do all of the above this week when the Maine Drama Festival is held live for the first time in two years. Hundreds of students – actors, stage crew, technicians – from more than 55 high schools will put on one-act plays at eight regional sites across the state on Friday and Saturday.

“Theater kids are the best,” said Haskell, who lives in Portland. “When you do a play (at the drama festival) it’s not just putting on a show. You’re sharing it with all these people who have an absolute love of theater. We’ve been able to put on some shows – with masks – here at school, but it’s not the same.”

Gorham High School students listen to feedback from drama director Josie Tierney-Fife, right, during a dress rehearsal of “White Room of My Remembering,” which will be part of this year’s Maine Drama Festival. From left: Hannah Reed, Emma Smith, Kaylin Brown, Julia Ordway, Aera Hyson and Annikka Mocciola. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

A YEARLY SHOWCASE

The Maine Drama Festival, which has been held annually since the early 1930s, is a chance for theater kids to share their passion but also to test their mettle, to compete and see how their work stacks up against others. At each regional site this year, one play will be pronounced the winner. Masking became optional for Maine public schools on March 9, though some performers may still choose to wear one.

Five of the eight sites are allowing spectators for sure, according to event organizers, including Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Ellsworth High School, Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor, Stearns High School in Millinocket and Winthrop High School. Yarmouth High School and Kennebunk High School are not scheduled to host audiences, because of space or other issues, while Gorham High School officials were still deciding as of last week.

For specific information on each site and whether audiences will be allowed, check the Maine Drama Festival Facebook page. Most school drama groups participating in the festival perform their play for their school communities earlier in March.

In most years, there are two rounds to the festival, with the winner at each regional site advancing to a state final. The state winner usually travels to the New England Drama festival, but that event is being held virtually later this spring and details are still being worked out.

The last Maine Drama Festival was in early March of 2020. The first round of the festival was held, but then COVID-19 shut down schools and drama programs for the rest of the year. In 2021, the festival was held virtually, with actors from many schools performing remotely from their own homes.

This past fall, many schools held plays and musicals with audiences again, but performers and audience members were masked. Not all Maine schools perform at the drama festival, and many student drama groups will also be performing plays and musicals this spring without masks for the first time in two years.

“My seniors are the only ones who’ve been to the festival,” said Tom Heath, co-director of drama at Camden Hills Regional High School and president of the Maine Drama Council, which organizes the festival. “The underclassmen are excited because they’ve heard the seniors talking about how awesome it is.”

Will Feagans, center, a student lighting tech, checks the gel on a stage light during a dress rehearsal of “White Room of My Remembering.” Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

A LAST CHANCE 

This year’s drama festival is a chance for students who have had their high school theater careers shortened by COVID to get back to what they love. For many seniors, it may be their last chance to write, act in or be part of the crew in a high school play before graduating.

Will Feagans, a senior at Gorham High School who hopes to pursue a career in theater and event lighting, couldn’t practice his craft when the pandemic shut theater productions down in 2020. But this year, he’s getting his chance to light up a stage once again. Gorham High’s production of “White Room of My Remembering” by Jean Lenox Toddie, which students performed for the general public in early March, will take the stage this weekend again at the school, which is a host site for the festival.

“I can’t dance, and I’m terrible in front of crowds, so this is really fun for me to be able to express myself in this discreet way,” said Feagans, 17, of his lighting skills. “Lighting can really drive the story and change it completely. But most people aren’t noticing the lighting, which is the goal.”

“White Room of My Remembering” is about a woman who visits her childhood home and is visited by the ghosts and memories of her past, including her younger self. Since a lot of the story is taking place in the main character’s head, lighting is really important to the range of moods and emotions she’s going through, Feagans said.

Two of the students who play versions of the main character – Annikka Mocciola and Julia Ordway – are long-time theater performers who hope to pursue careers in acting or the performing arts after high school. Both have applied to and auditioned for several colleges with performing arts programs.

To have a chance to act in front of her peers – and to watch them – at the drama festival this year is “beyond exciting,” Ordway said.

“My freshman year we traveled to Caribou (for the festival), and it was such a great experience to see people who have the same aspirations and who have worked just as hard,” said Ordway. “I’m so happy to have that chance again.”

Annikka Mocciola, left, and Julia Ordway rehearse “White Room of My Remembering.” Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

And while she’s happy to be able to see her fellow actors’ faces again, Ordway says it’s been an adjustment going back to acting without a mask.

“With masks, we got used to using our eyes and our eyebrows, and we left our cheeks and mouths alone,” said Ordway, 17. “Now I feel like maybe I’m a little too distracted with my face, asking myself if I’m biting my lip, things like that.”

Several plays in the festival are written by students, while others are written by professional playwrights and have been performed before. Haskell co-wrote Cheverus’ entry into the drama festival, “Odd Jobs,” with fellow senior Anna Vozzelli. It’s a dark comedy focusing on a college dropout who goes to a temp agency to find work, and the jobs he’s assigned get weirder and weirder as the play goes on.

Vozzelli said she and Haskell started with characters they thought were funny and wrote stories for each, including an Amish vampire and pastry chefs who can’t pronounce croissant.

“We kind of felt that since this our last play, we wanted to have fun and amp it up and maybe make something that would shock the audience,” said Haskell.

Cheverus High School drama teacher Keith Anctil talks to his students before they begin to rehearse the play, “Odd Jobs,” at the school on March 10. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Bee Towle, a senior at South Portland High School, is another of the playwrights whose work will be on display at the festival. “The Puellia” is set in ancient Rome and focuses on a woman who wants to run for public office, but isn’t allowed, so she disguises herself as a man.

Towle wrote the play “for fun” and was surprised when the school’s drama coaches picked it as the entry into the festival. It will be performed at South Portland High School on Wednesday (invited dress rehearsal) and Thursday for the school community, then at Yarmouth High School as part of the festival on Saturday.

“Theater is meant to be live, it’s a completely different thing than TV,” said Towle. “Last year it was on video, and you’re watching it by yourself. This year, with all the shows being live and in person, it’s just going to be really fun.”

The drama festival is also a big deal for the coaches and directors of various student groups. Keith Anctil is involved in two productions, as drama coach at Cheverus and technical director at South Portland.

Anctil, who has been involved in student theater programs for 25 years, is excited the kids are getting the chance to act without masks and to see each other’s faces. He said that while wearing masks it was hard for the young actors to “connect on a deeper level” though facial expressions.

When Cheverus began rehearsing without masks in mid-March, Anctil said he was happy to see everybody’s face, new and old.

“I think the biggest thing I learned is that I really missed seeing the kids’ faces,” said Anctil. “There were some kids who were new (to the drama group) and I realized that I didn’t really know what they looked like. I hadn’t really seen them without a mask all year.”