Group Interpretation is a competitive 30-minute play that consists of a chorus (ensemble) and lead role. Students are required to perform without a play or literary work, and without the use of props or set pieces. This event encourages students to utilize ensembles to emphasize pivotal moments through the story as well as strengthen the interpretation for emotional reaction.
On Friday, March 27, Marian Catholic’s Group Interpretation team competed in the state competition at Reavis High School. After advancing through Regionals and Sectionals, the team was able to compete against other schools at a top-notch level for the championship. The results were revealed at the awards ceremony on Saturday, March 28, where the top give schools were listed and Marian Catholic’s Group Interpretation team wound up taking 1st place in the state of Illinois.
The members were exhilarated with the results with some shedding tears at the ceremony and many becoming emotional. The cast and directors shared their delight and excitement after winning the championship.
Ms. Hilger, Director of Speech and Theatre operations, reveals, ““I mean for the past four years we’ve been fortunate to advance to the state final round and every year it’s very humbling to hear all the different coaches and directors and students across the state tell us about how they loved our show, and this year was no different but you never know when you’re leaving it up to judges interpretation and last year we lost by one point so this year we went in with zero expectation and we just set out to tell our story and be proud of ourselves by the end of the competition,” she expanded more about the journey of the Group Interpretation team this school year, “To speak out about the journey, group interpretation is such an interesting activity in that from our first rehearsal to first competition it’s under a month of work in order to get where we need to get and that requires a lot of time and energy, when we’re all tired, stressed, and burned out but we have to find ways to have fun, stay engaged, and stay motivated and continue to build our strength as a team.”
Tyler Grayson, cast member and junior student added on , “I will say I went into state really confident and even with that confidence, the second I found out we won state. I was really shocked and I was relieved at the same time. It was just after getting top 3 for the past four years, it was the climax for all of us, it was the build for the eventual peak.”
Robyn Carroll, stage tech and crew member also responded, “When the announcements came, everybody was screaming and yelling. It’s just that you have to watch it. The story is so deep losing a mother is hard and having a dad in jail. All the actors were contributing to push the story forward into showing all the funny moments and lighthearted moments.”
The following performers are listed:
Noah Burks*
David Barlow*
Alan Bertucci
Tori Cates*
Isa Draus
Gabrielle Giden
Tyler Grayson*
Grace Manning
Nancy Onuchukwu*
Ayomide Owasanoye
Olamide Owasanoye
Gabrielle Price
Gabrielle Stovall
Chris Watkins*
Jayda Matthews
Daisy Oparanozie
Rae Thomas
Student Director: Clara Raftery
*Denotes All-State Cast Members
Furthermore, six cast members were nominated for the All-State award, which is an award given to individual performers for their exceptional performance during the Group Interpretation IHSA State Competition.
Congratulations to the Marian Catholic Group Interpretation Cast and Crew Members!