Kingswood Theater heads to state competition as host

WOLFEBORO — Kingswood Theater has returned home from the New Hampshire Educational Theatre Guild’s State Festival as State Champions with a sweep of all major awards for its one-act version of “She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition.”

This marks the fourth State Championship in the past five state festivals, and the second full-sweep of the major awards. This result advances Kingswood Theater to the next and final step in the festival ladder: The New England Drama Festival, which will take place at Kingswood Theater the weekend of May 1-3.

Kingswood Theater students performed their production of “She Kills Monsters” at the NHETG State Theatre Festival at Gilford High School, on

Saturday, April 12. It received a standing ovation and words of praise from the adjudicators.  

At the end of the day, the Kingswood cast and crew were showered with awards, including:  Excellence in Technical Design and Direction by Ace Vergato, Malcolm Clark, Nelson Edwards and Isabella Six; Excellence in Puppeteering by Isaak Carr, Magnolia McKenna, Theodore Hall, Maddie Seison, Ewan Rutherford, Lorelai Tuttle and Jaicie Weemhoff; Excellence in Puppet Construction by Laura Fernandes, Sara Fernandes, Eddie Ring, Maddie Seison, Caroline Kinzlmaier, Delilah Mills, Isabella Six, Jaicie Weemhoff and Isaak Carr; and Excellence in Acting by Kristin Cooper, for her portrayal of Tilly Evans. 

At the end of the ceremonies, three big awards are given out: The Robert A. Stuart Award for Best Acting Performance in the state, The Sarah P. Bunkley Award for Best Technical Element in the State, and Best Production and Qualifier for the New England Drama Festival. Kingswood walked away with all three.  

Kristin Cooper received the Robert A Stuart Award. Ace Vergato, Malcolm Clark, Isabella Six and Nelson Edwards received the Sarah P. Bunkley Award, and Kingswood was selected as Best Production at the Festival. 

“She Kills Monsters” tells the story of high schooler Agnes Evans (Kaitlyn Cooper) as she deals with the death of her younger sister, Tilly (Kristin Cooper). When Agnes stumbles upon Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, she finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge. In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and ’90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within everyone.

This year, the NEDF will be featuring productions from Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, Maine; Oceanside High School of Rockland, Maine; Thetford Academy of Thetford, Vermont; Otter Valley Union High School of Brandon, Vermont; Saugus High School of Saugus, Massachusetts; Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts of Providence, Rhode Island; St. Mary Academy Bay View of Riverside, Rhode Island; The Founders Academy of Manchester, New Hampshire; and Kingswood Regional High School of Wolfeboro. All performances are open to the public.

The full schedule for the festival can be found at 

kingswoodtheater.org