A 24-member drama troupe from Cape Elizabeth High School placed first in its division at the one-act Maine Drama Festival at Bangor High School on Saturday, earning a berth in the New England Theatre Festival in April.

During last weekend’s Class A state finals, the group of students from Cape Elizabeth performed “The Dishwasher,” based on a short story by Robert Garner McBrearty and adapted for the stage by Aynne Ames of Belfast. The play features a college graduate who works as a dishwasher at a diner and desperately wants to believe that his job is glamorous and prestigious in the public eye.

Cape Elizabeth qualified for the state finals after placing first in the Class A regional tournament at Freeport High School in early March.

This year, the New England Theatre Festival, scheduled for April 23-25, will be hosted at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport.

Under the direction of theater director Richard Mullen, Cape Elizabeth was among eight Class A schools to perform one-act plays at the state competition. Bangor High School placed second in the state finals for its production of “The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow,” while Fryeburg Academy took third place for its performance of “The Other Room.”

“We were received tremendously by the audience, and the judges loved what we had done,” said Mullen. “They commended students for outstanding performance and outstanding technical work. It’s a high achievement. We are very, very pleased.”

Cape Elizabeth actors Cole Amorello, Ryan Wallace, Robert MacKay and Andrew Harrington were named to the All Festival Cast for their individual performances. Competition judges also commended Cape Elizabeth students Remy Dickinson and Jeremy Caswell for the production’s “integrated set and light design,” said Mullen.

MacKay, who played the part of the cook, said it was his fourth time attending the Maine Drama Festival. MacKay, a senior, has been involved with theater at the school since he was a freshman.

“The dishwasher looks up to the cook along with the other members of the kitchen who have been working there a long time,” said MacKay. “He kind of idolizes them a little bit for their success because he’s being invited into this world; they’re good at it, and he’s not.”

It will be MacKay’s first time performing at the New England festival. MacKay said he is looking forward to continuing to showcase what the Cape Elizabeth’s drama troupe has to offer.

“This play is very quick, but it’s layered,” he said. “We’ve learned to work efficiently in our own areas. You’re constantly inside this organized chaos. It’s exhausting, but it’s always a lot of fun.”

Mullen said Cape Elizabeth’s theater troupe has reached the New England Theatre festival several times in the past. Most recently, they attended the festival in 2001 and performed “Alice in Wonderland.” The New England festival, he said, “is a showcase of the outstanding theater in each of the states. There will be 12 shows. There’s no competition.”

Cape Elizabeth High School Principal Jeffrey Shedd, who has seen the students perform “The Dishwasher” twice, once at the regional competition two weeks ago and again in Bangor, said earning first place in the state festival is “a well-earned testament to the quality of the production this year and the effort put into all the aspects of the program, both on and behind the stage.”

According to Shedd, Cape’s theater program attracts a mix of students. He said it’s a “joy” to see the students be recognized for their work.

“I’m proud of this accomplishment by a very diverse group of young people who have been forged into a high-performing ensemble,” Shedd said. “Any state championship is a huge accomplishment. Over the course of their theatrical experience the past four years, many of those involved in theater have grown immeasurably, in significant part as a result of this involvement” in the festival.

Maura Smith, a liaison to the Maine Drama Council, which organizes the festivals, said Cape Elizabeth’s win is well deserved.

“Every aspect of the play was beautifully executed,” she said. “The acting and staging were consistently strong and inventive. The set was cleverly designed and supported the actors very well. The lighting and sound helped set the mood for what was a thoroughly enjoyable, refreshing, funny and poignant piece of theater.”

Cape Elizabeth High School students, from left, Robert MacKay, Anya Kohan, Hannah Walsh, Eva Miele, Andrew Harrington and Cole Amorello, perform “The Dishwasher” during the Maine Drama Festival at Bangor High School last weekend. The group is headed to the New England Theatre Festival in April. Photo courtesy of Jenny CampbellPerforming their one-act play, “The Dishwasher,” at Bangor High School during the Maine Drama Festival March 20-21 are, from left, Cape Elizabeth High School students Ryan Wallace, Andrew Harrington, Robert MacKay, Eva Miele, Anya Kohan and Cole Amorello.  Photo courtesy of Jenny Campbell