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Dramatic behavior championed at annual theater festival

Students from Christian Brothers High School perform in the 2006 Lenaea Festival.

Continuing a tradition that has endured for more than 50 years, Sacramento State will once again host the award-winning Lenaea Festival on February 2 – 4. Festival events run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 2; 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3; and 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 4. Events will be held in the University, the Playwrights’ and the Studio Theatres, as well as other campus venues.

The festival, among the largest high-school theater events of its kind in the nation, offers high school theater teachers and students a chance to learn new skills and share ideas.

Students perform in a series of one-act plays, scenes, monologues and songs and are evaluated by Sacramento State professors and area theater professionals. Awards are presented to the top-scoring performers, who are invited to give command performances on Sunday evening. Other festival events include educational workshops and special presentations.

All festival participants are eligible for the Robert Smart Spirit of Lenaea Scholarship, which was named after the late Sacramento State Professor Robert Smart, who led the festival for more than 10 years.

“The participants really enjoy coming to Sacramento State and competing against other west coast high schools,” says Scott Adams, executive director of the Lenaea Festival. “The students get so much out of the Festival. Not only are they preparing monologues and scenes, but they’re able to come and sit in and see other schools’ approaches to theater and performance.”

Festival performances are open to the public. Tickets, available at the University Theatre box office in Shasta Hall, are $5 per day or $10 for a weekend pass. For more information, contact the Department of Theatre and Dance at 278- 6702 or visit www.csus.edu/lenaea.