Senior Shamus Sass and junior Mary Sass won honors at the 2013 North Carolina Theatre Convention Nov. 8-9 in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest actors competed against students from ten schools in our region.

Theater students performed two plays at the competition “Comfort Women,” written by drama teacher Marie Jones, and an abridged version of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.”

Mary Sass, who played Bianca in “Taming of the Shrew,” won the “Outstanding Actress” award, an honor given to only one boy and one girl at the conference.

Shamus Sass, who played the lead actor role of Petruchio in “Taming of the Shrew,” took home the “Excellence in Acting” award. This award was given to five boys and five girls at the competition.

“I learned that if you work hard on a character that has potential and you reach some kind of equilibrium with your own potential, then recognition is possible,” Shamus Sass said.

“Comfort Women” won the award for “Excellence in a Play with Social Relevance.”

Only two plays presented at the regional conference advance to state-level competition. Mount Tabor High School and Northwest Cabarrus High School advanced.

Despite not advancing, students gained valuable experience for later performances. Mary Sass is already thinking about the future.

Sass said, “if we could just work on characters and projection, I think we’d do great. I’m ready to help and get more help from this great department however I can.”