ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Tough-Love Teacher Preps NHS Drama Students for Stage and Life
G
ina Peverley Parrish, Norcross High School (NHS) Theatre Director, is the first to admit it. She’s strict. She doesn’t coddle kids. She would never hand out a participation trophy. Her Thespian Troupe members must become familiar with all aspects of theatre, from lighting to sound. They make their own costumes and build next-level
sets. They’re expected to show up for rehearsals after school and on weekends and to give every performance everything they’ve got. “When a student who is thinking about auditioning for a show asks me if it is hard work, my response is, ‘You bet it is,’” Parrish said. “Nothing makes me more proud than when someone says after a show how shocked they were that they were watching a high school show. It seemed so much more professional than they had imagined. In class and at rehearsal, we want to have fun, learn about theatre, and always demonstrate a strong work ethic.”
By Donna Williams Lewis
Photos by Richard Phillips
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Peachtree Corners Magazine ■ December/January 2022 ■ LivingInPeachtreeCorners.com
For Parrish, now in her 30th year of teaching drama at NHS, this has been a recipe for success. The NHS Thespian Troupe slayed at Georgia High School Association competition this fall, taking first place at the Region 7AAAAAAA One-Act Play State Championships with a performance from the musical comedy “Nunsense.” Claire Sauls, a junior, won Best Actress, and seniors Makena Hilsmier and Ella Bullock were named to the competition’s All-Star Cast. Earlier this fall, Claire was cast in the 2022 All State Theatre Opening Number Production for the Georgia State Thespian Conference. While sweet, these victories are par for the course for Parrish, who was inducted into the national Educational Theatre Association’s Hall of Fame in 2017 and who’s seen some of her students become peachtreecornerslife
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professional actors. “We’ve won our region many times, been to state many times. We won one state championship, in 2009. For me, once we get to state, to be honest, it’s not whether we win or not. It’s that the kids get there, and they do the very best job that they can do,” she said.
‘You learn how to command a room’ Claire plans to go into an arts field after high school and enjoys the competitive aspect of theatre troupe. “You get the chance to feel what a true competition is like … which will be really helpful in the real world,” she said. Of the drama program, she said, “I love how many opportunities are given to me. There’s always a chance to do better roles and learn fundamentals like dancing and singing.” Ella and Makena aren’t planning drama-related careers, but they say theatre education has helped them in many ways. For Ella, the program has been
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