Archer actresses win at DTASC competition

By Nicki Rosenberg, Managing Editor|November 20, 2017

Photo credit: Marc Goldsmith

Livi Richards ’19, Julianna Goldsmith ’18, Sophie Evans-Katz ’18, Noa Diamond ’18, Sara Friedman ’18, Livia Blum ’19, Shira Goldstein ’19 and Caroline Ediger ’19 celebrates their wins at the DTASC competition. The actress are part of the Advanced Acting Class, nicknamed the Drama Queens.

Following the Drama Queens’ first lunchtime performance on Oct. 26, the Advanced Theatre class and other Archer actresses performed at the DTASC [Drama Teachers Association of Southern California] on Saturday Oct. 28. 

The students actresses performed pieces that ranged from group comedies which included “chairography” to dramatic monologues. According to students, although the competition is an intimidating process, it helps them become better actors.

Julianna Goldsmith ‘18 performed two monologues, one from Chekhov’s “Wild Honey” and another from “Breakfast with Les and Bess” by Lee Kalcheim.

“It was very different for me because, [in] the past two years I’ve done [DTASC], I performed in a group,” Goldsmith said. “Doing it individually was very different, kind of more intimidating in a way. I was on my own and didn’t have other Archer people to be my support system. It was exciting though.”

Regardless of this being her first time performing alone at DTASC, Goldsmith placed second out of 121 submission in the Monologue Performance category.

Sophie Evans-Katz ‘18 and Livia Blum ‘19 performed “The Children’s Hour” by Lillian Hellman and were directed by Gracie Abrams ‘18. The group placed in the top ten in the Strong Leading Ladies category. 

Livi Richards ‘19, Caroline Ediger ‘19, Noa Diamond ‘18, Sara Friedman ‘18 and Shira Goldstein ‘19 performed “Application Pending” by Greg Edwards and Andy Sandberg and were directed by Maya Winkler ‘18. They won fifth place in the Large Comedy category.

According to the actors, although winning awards is very gratifying, what was truly fulfilling was the education they gain from the experience of competing. According to performers, DTASC allowed the students to learn and expand their skills in a professional setting. 

“You watch a lot of other people, so you get to learn from them. Going through rounds and experiencing that is a learning experience in and of itself,” Goldsmith said. “Also a few days later you get to see your score sheets and how the judges score you. [They] leave comments, so you get really helpful feedback.”