Members of the Cupertino Actors’ Theatre returned to school in high spirits after winning several awards at the annual Lenaea High School Festival on Feb. 5, 2023.

These awards include bronze, silver, and gold awards in set design, one gold award in costume design, three bronze awards in monologues and one silver award in the duo scene.

According to Arcadia Conrad,  20-year theater teacher and director at Cupertino High School, the entire class looks forward to the festival, as it is the only one that they attend. This year was also CAT’s first year attending the event in person after the pandemic. 

“It’s obvious to me [which] students […] may be good picks to represent the festival in terms of scenes and monologues,” said Conrad. “This is actually the first year where we entered more than one set design and had extensive costume design. It was really amazing how our designers pulled it out.”

CAT started preparing for the festival in late November 2022 but began focusing more of their time on it in January 2023.

Said Hannah Tran, actor and costume designer for CAT, “Here at school, CAT has the only theater kids […] it was really fun to see all the bold personalities [at Lenaea].” The costume design department won a gold award, and, to Tran, the award felt like a “culmination of all [the department’s] hard work.”

Even though it is true that these awards take a lot of time and dedication, many members of CAT do not see them as the biggest reason why they attend festivals like Lenaea. According to Conrad, many students leave behind their awards at CHS.

Although members of CAT put in large amounts of work and time into their productions, some do not plan to pursue a future in the arts. “I would prefer working in the medical field,” Tran said. “But I think [theater] is a fun side hobby, and it helps [me] express myself.” Tran balances her classes by taking advantage of downtimes during rehearsals, and she would love to participate in more contests.

After Lenaea, CAT is now diligently preparing for their spring play “The Great Gatsby.” When asked what advice Tran would offer to someone starting out in theater, she responded, “Have fun and just express yourself. Let yourself be whoever you want to be.”