On Friday, February first through Sunday, February third, members of Cupertino Actors Theater (CAT) attended the Lenaea High School theater festival in Folsom, California.

The Lenaea theater festival aims to provide participants with a unique way of experiencing theater by having attendees participate in acting workshops and competitions such as one acts duo scenes, musical theater, and monologues.

Students such as sophomore Ruri Kodama, Flynn Mamlok, and Purvi Rajan and seniors Briana Lingofelter, Kaitlin Linne, Angela Lee, Kainoa Miller, and Luna Conrad attended the festival.

Said Miller, who won silver for overall and best student directed/written one act for his piece “Deer Crossing,” “[Theater Festivals are] a great way to improve your technique and get to meet other theater students from other schools. It’s always a learning experience regardless of what you do.”

Prior to competing at Lenaea, students prepared for their competitions for months. Linne, who competed in the duo scene category with Lingofelter and won silver for “The Blueberry Hill Accord” spent roughly 2 months preparing for her competition. Another competitor prepared for over half a year.

“I competed in three tracks. First was monologues. I had a monologue that I had been working on since last year in March… my next event was musical theater, in which I performed a song I had been working on since last May…. last of all was the one-acts event…. [which] I began writing last year,” said Miller.

However, the students believed their hard work ultimately paid off. Miller described the moment he won as one of the proudest moments of his life, Linne felt elated that all her hard work with Lingofelter had paid off, and Kodama felt ecstatic.

“It’s very rewarding to have an award-winning performance [and know] that we were able to share a story to the audience and have them feel moved and inspired… I felt like I was on cloud nine the entire night,” says Kodama who won bronze for her musical theater piece “All Falls Down” and her duo scene with Lee, “Letters to a Student Revolutionary,” which won gold.

Students also enjoyed meeting new people, working with professionals, and gaining hands-on experiences, such as Flynn Mamlok, who was participated in the costume design competition, and Purvi Rajan, who won best actor in one act.

“[I enjoyed] being able to see more experienced costume designers design and gaining hands-on experience designing with others,” says Mamlok who, along with Conrad were finalists in the costume design category.

Says Kodama, “My favorite part… was meeting artists from other schools … [and having] the opportunity to collaborate together and share our creativity by creating a beautiful artistic piece.”

To attend the festival with Cupertino CAT, one must audition for a spot to attend. However, CAT students strongly recommend that others attend this festival.

“It is a ton of fun while spending time with friends and learning more about the world of performance art,” says Linne.

Kodama also expressed her positive feelings towards the theater festival.

Says Kodama, “We get to see each other grow, express ourselves freely and share our love for the arts. It was a very friendly environment to be a part of and I’m really happy I was able to meet really incredible people.”