T.C. Williams, home of the legendary Titans football team, also boasts another record breaking team: T.C.’s latest group of talented students to secure an awe inspiring winning streak is its Cappies Critics team. The Cappies program was created by Bill Strauss and Judy Brown, advocators of high school theater and the positive effect it can have on kids, and focuses on developing students’ ability as writers and critics while also forcing teenage thespians to strive for their best. The program culminates with the Cappies Gala, an awards ceremony akin to the Tonys, dedicated to high school theater. T.C. Williams’ team has won four consecutive awards for Best Critic Team and is the only team to win the award multiple times since the program’s inception.
The team began the year by recruiting new members to replace those lost to colleges across the country. The only returning members of the last year’s team are senior Cristina Wood, who has taken the post of Lead Critic, and senior Cathryn Dutton. Both are excited to pass on what they have learned to the new critics. Every year students at T.C. interested in becoming part of the team must submit a sample review to be judged. The application process is very important to the T.C. team and helps to assure that the team consists of only the best writers. After going through more than a dozen reviews, the T.C. team was settled upon: seniors Sara Danver, Beth Wherry, Taekia Blackwell, and junior Katie Ogden.
“It was really hard to pick people for the team,” Wood said. “There were so many good reviews we even had to have a tie-breaker before the final decision. But I think we picked the best people for the team.”
The team is aiming for another victory by signing up for as many shows as possible, keeping in mind they have large footsteps to follow. Although the legacy T.C. has begun can be harrowing at times, this year’s team is confident that they can uphold it.
“I’m really looking forward to this year. We have a great team and we’re signed up for a lot of shows,” Wood said. “We’re definitely aiming for a fifth win.” There is no questioning that any school seeking to take T.C.’s victory away from them will have to put up a fight, for it seems that these Titans have discovered the perfect recipe for success.
“I’m looking forward to this year to uphold our long-standing tradition of winning,” Wherry said.
Danver agreed. “It’s intimidating but inspiring to follow such a legacy,” she said.
“I think that part of the reason our team has won so many times is that we come from all aspects of theater,” Ogden said. “Beth’s an actor, Taekia directs among other things, Sara and Cathryn are musicians, and Cristina tackles it as a writer. When you’ve got that many perspectives you can’t go wrong.”
“All of our teams have had a similar make up,” said Dutton. However, in the end it comes down to the numbers, as the Critics awards are the only ones decided by an extensive numerical equation, and it is still anyone’s game.