SACO – Thornton Academy has taken home silver in the Class A regional Maine Drama Festival with a play that was both student written and directed.

The annual festival was held at Thornton Academy this year, and hosted seven other schools including Casco Bay High School, R.W. Traip Academy, Cheverus High School, Noble High School, Marshwood High School, Lisbon High School and Westbrook High School.

Thornton Academy’s play, “Complex,” was written by Delaney Ziegman and directed by Maddie Vaughan, both of the class of 2019, and featured a cast of 32.

“Complex” begins with Oliver, played by Jon Dube, bemoaning the bad reviews his recently published poem received to work colleague Jade, played by Molly Scott. The two watch the passerby on the street below as Oliver claims that he is more “complex” than everyone else because he is an artist, while Jade encourages him to see beyond the apparent facade to what lies beneath. The subsequent scenes show the characters in their everyday life, highlighting their hopes and dreams in direct opposition to Oliver’s assertion that they all live simple lives. The young girl, he believes is just playing outside, is dreaming of working for NASA. The “boring” girl Oliver approaches on the street is studying to be a marine biologist. Ziegman’s words showcase the idea that there is more than meets the eye, bringing to life the adage of not judging a book by its cover.

“This play is so good, and the fact that it’s student written?” said Thornton Academy Theater Teacher David Hanright, shaking his head in awe and pride. “It’s incredible. They did such a great job.”

The performance on Friday, March 8 was met with a standing ovation by the audience, and actors Molly Scott and Lindsay Armstrong, both seniors, were inducted into the all-festival cast, the highest honor for actors at the competition.

Sitting down together during a break in the competition on March 9, Ziegman and Vaughan were able to take a moment to bask in the success.

“It’s been really magical,” Ziegman said. “Seeing my words come to life like that, it turned out better than I could have imagined.”

Ziegman wrote the play two years ago for a student-written play festival at Thornton Academy, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to mount it on such a large scale.

“When we first performed it, it was a small cast of about 10 people on a bare stage,” Ziegman said. “Now, to have this many working on my play, and with a set, it’s just incredible.”

The background actors for the play walked back and forth to create the illusion of a busy city street. Each individual pass by the actors was unique, changing costumes and mannerisms as they passed.

“It was really cool to see my vision come to life,” Vaughan said. “When you are working with your peers, you never really know how it will turn out, but everyone has been so great to work with, and so supportive of us.”

“Everyone has been working so hard to help us execute our vision,” Ziegman said. “They step up and care about what we’re doing, and are happy for us.”

The two were thrilled by the feedback they received from judges, including praise for a particularly effective stage trick conceived by Vaughan herself. Every time Oliver threw a copy of a magazine off the “roof” of the building, a crewmember standing on the stage would throw down a copy of the same magazine to create the illusion that the left side of the stage was on a roof and the right side was the street.

“It took awhile for us to make it work, but it ended up looking so cool,” Vaughan said. “I fought hard to keep that in.”

“It’s been a great experience,” Ziegman said. “I’m thankful to everyone for making it happen.”

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