Notre Dame’s upper division drama students came home yesterday from West Bloomfield High School with a Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association district first place for their performance of “Women and War, A One Act Play.”
According to Meredith Gifford, who heads Notre Dame’s theatre department, the group also received Superior Awards for Costume Design (Abigail Kot) and Acting (Chloe Fazzini, Francesco Fregoli, Nina Romzek, and Emily Macks), and Excellent Awards in acting for the entire cast and for sound design (Mikaela Crute).
MIFA is a state non-profit based in Southfield focused around the middle and high school levels of forensics activities like debate, individual events, and theater. It has been the governing body for speech activities in the state of Michigan since 1917.
“Women and War, A One Act Play,” by Jack Hilton Cunningham, was derived from a selection of fictional stories based on historical fact, told by generations of Americans impacted by conflict from The Great War to the war in Afghanistan.
Leading up to Saturday’s competition, the play, which is directed by Gifford and produced by Lisa Macks, was performed for the Notre Dame community on January 26 in the school’s cafetorium
Gifford said the MIFA competition consists of traveling shows of published or unpublished one-act plays, cuttings from longer plays, or original one-act plays that are 35 minutes long.
“Students are judged on their performance and schools may participate in studio and/or main stage divisions,” she said. “Humorous and serious themes sometimes alternate between the various divisions.”
As a result of their success yesterday, the Notre Dame troupe now will compete Feb. 10 and 11 at the MIFA regionals held at Avondale High School to be followed by state finals competition at the Charlotte Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, Mich.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.