Nat DiCicco is a senior, and they just won the Bob Smart Spirit of Lenaea award. This award is given at the end of the Lenaea Drama Festival for being “the spirit of Lenaea.” This award is incredibly prestigious, and the drama director of each high school has to personally recommend only one student from his/her school for the award. Nat was picked out of around 1500 attendees, and is extremely excited about it. I decided to ask Nat a few questions about drama and this award in particular to further delve into this amazing accomplishment.
What inspired you to love drama and want to become a film technician?
Nat said that they first started as part of the choir in a musical when in kindergarten. They then went on to perform extracurricularly in the second grade, and have never looked back since. Nat enjoys drama especially because of the sense of confidence it gives them, and the dramatic effect of it all. Nat also said, “it’s a bit of an ego boost, haha.”
How do you feel about receiving the award?
“It’s a weird feeling, hard to describe,” Nat first said. They had never previously won an award at the festival, even though they had gone and performed all four years. Therefore, for them, it was an incredibly “cinematic” moment. Their final year, and everything seemed to have been culminating to this moment. In addition, Nat had a friend who was also a student director and she won the award freshman year; Nat is also happy that she was able to follow in her footsteps.
What are you doing in quarantine that’s drama related?
Well, Nat has a large presence in both Drama Production and IB Theater. Last semester, they directed a Zoom production one-act of The Cecile by Jean Anouilh. Nat feels that this was “a good production, but there were definitely challenges with blocking and directing over Zoom.” All in all, however, they are very “proud of it.” They are currently working on rehearsals for a spring production of the Shakespeare play As You Like It, acting as the co-director alongside drama teacher Mr. Schloemp. This was quite inspiring to me, as Nat is not only working on technical issues, they are also working on blocking, design, character decisions, and playing a character themselves.
Big congratulations again to our very own Nat DiCicco, winner of the Bob Smart Spirit of Lenaea Award!