At the Sears Ontario Drama Festival Showcase, performed at Hart House in Toronto May 11-14, the Burlington school won three awards for its Lysistrata production:

● Outstanding Achievement Award – Connor Dutchak (for the role of Kinesias)
● Outstanding Stage Manager Award – Madi Lalonde
● MIRA Award (in honour of well-known arts journalist Mira Friedlander) to Arinea Hermans for Lysistrata

“Given this is the 2,400th year anniversary of the writing of Lysistrata , it seemed like an appropriate year for the school to produce this show,” says Nelson High School drama teacher Chris Rosser. “We had a group of 33 students involved in the production. We performed this show in the style of the ancient Greeks. For example, all actors wore masks, exaggerated costumes, and we also had a trio of musicians using simple instruments to underscore the main action with music and sound effects.” 

Rosser continues: “Co-director Marisa Cavataio and I are incredibly proud of this fantastic production. The students were amazing and we were extremely lucky to have the support of so many teachers and administrators. We could not have done all of this without their support.”

To get a chance to perform at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival Showcase, secondary school drama groups must first enter one of approximately 24 District Festivals held in various areas of the province. Each District is organized by geographic location. The number of shows that proceed to the Regional level is determined by a set formula. District finalists are then invited to one of six Regional Festivals. Finally, two outstanding Productions from each Regional Festival are invited to perform at the Ontario Showcase, held at various venues around the province.

Prior to the Ontario Showcase, Nelson High School’s production was already achieving big success.

At the Halton District Sears Ontario Drama Festival, it won the:
 
· Award of Merit for Acting – Arinea Hermans (charactor of Lysistrata);
· Award of Merit for Acting –  Haley Zerr (charactor of Myrrhine) and Connor Dutchak (charactor of Kinesias);
· Award of Excellence in Stage Management – Madi Lalonde; Award of Excellence to the Ensemble (cast, crew and musicians); 
· Outstanding Production Award.

At the Western Region Sears Ontario Drama Festival, performed in Bradford in April, the production compiled the following:

· Award of Excellence – Arinea Herman;
· Award of Excellence in Stage Management –  Madi Lalonde;
· Award of Excellence to the Ensemble (cast, crew and musicians); 
· Outstanding Production Award