North’s one-act production of “Saint Joan” received the top award of Critic’s Choice at the Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival state finals. This marks the twenty-second consecutive year North has received the award—the only school in the history of the state competition to achieve such a distinction. In addition, the cast and crew swept all award categories with an Outstanding Ensemble Acting Award, an Outstanding Technical/Crew Award, and a Director’s Award. Students Emily Hodson (as Earl of Warwick of England), Isaac Lemmert (as Chaplain to Cardinal of England), and Meg Cain (as Joan of Arc) received Outstanding Acting Awards.

 Participating schools competed at district and sectional meets in order to qualify for state. Each qualifying school then prepared a final recording for evaluation by a panel of four adjudicators during the Dec. 10-12 festival. Known in previous years for the grand sets quickly assembled and then disassembled during their 40-minute performance, this year’s circumstances called for North’s crew to design and implement a whole new kind of staging, lighting, costuming, and sound for cast members participating from their homes via Zoom. The contest was held virtually at all levels because of the pandemic, and the Appleton Area School District has been in fully virtual mode all semester. That meant auditions and rehearsals were held online, and homemade green screens were built and dropped off at students’ homes along with costumes and props. North Theatre Director Ron Parker said, “There were quite a few challenges creating this year’s one-act by using a video conferencing format. Students were isolated in their own homes, and we had to work within the confines of Zoom boxes on screen, which limited movement and didn’t allow for our normal elaborate scenery and set up. Problems with wi-fi connectivity also had to be dealt with, but the students rose to every challenge that presented itself, and together created a very powerful and engaging piece of virtual theatre.”

 Written by George Bernard Shaw and set in 15th-century France, “Saint Joan” tells the story of a peasant girl who claimed to hear the voices of saints directing her to drive out the English. Joan’s stunning battlefield victories, charisma, and her rejection of gender stereotypes begin to threaten the male-dominated political and religious powers. She was ultimately betrayed, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake. In the epilogue, set in 1920, ghosts from Joan’s past return to honor her canonization only to reject her once again. Shaw wrote “Saint Joan” to commemorate her canonization in 1920, and this year marks the 100th anniversary of her sainthood. Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for “Saint Joan.” North’s 40-minute cutting of the play into one act focused on the medieval Joan’s surprisingly modern, visionary views of gender fluidity and the absolute right of individual expression.