Cappies

Cappies is a nationwide organization that offers awards and recognition for high school theater programs. TJTA is part of the Nation’s Capital Area chapter, and each competing school in our area has a team of critics that watches other schools’ performances, writes reviews, and handles nominations and voting. A running list of nominations and critic publications can be found here. Critic applications for the next year happen in the spring via a Google Form and writing sample that is posted in our Facebook group. Feel free to reach out to Ella Greene, our lead critic, on Facebook Messenger at any point if you have any questions!

Team Members
Ella Clarke
Asha Das
Ella Greene (Lead Critic)
Riva Jain
Cullan Kelley
Bellana Pachon (Critic in Training)
Dylan Truncellito
Ella Tysse
Mayuka Valluri
Sri Vellakkat

Expectations & FAQs

Q: What’s the time commitment?
A: Critics are required to attend at least 5 shows during the season, but are strongly encouraged to volunteer for more. Critics must arrive at shows 45 minutes before the show starts, and stay around an hour after the show ends for discussion. After the show, critics must write and submit reviews of the show. 

Q: What does writing a review look like?
A: Critics write about stand-out acting and technical elements of their show. They typically have about a day to write it, with the end product being a 300-600 word well-written review. Adult mentors select the top reviews from each show to send to local news sources for publication.  

Q: What's the transportation requirement?
A: Critics will need to provide their own transportation to and from shows. Keep in mind that shows can run late due to discussions and voting.

Q: What does a Cappies show look like?
A: Once critics arrive at a show they are led to a Cappies room where they are typically provided with dinner while the pre-show discussion takes place. There are also displays created by tech departments to showcase their work. If the show has an intermission, critics will return to the discussion room, where they are typically served dessert, to talk about the first half of the performance and their expectations for the next half. After the show ends, critics will participate in a final discussion and vote on which actors they want to nominate for each category (Lead, Supporting, etc). Then critics independently score each tech and performance category before heading home.

Q: What is the Cappies Gala?
A: Once the season wraps in May, critics will participate in nominating and voting on awards. The results are announced at the Cappies Gala later that month. During the Cappies Gala, schools that are nominated for Best Play have the opportunity to perform a short scene, and those nominated for Best Musical get to perform a song. TJTA has been nominated for several Cappies awards, which can be found here.

2018-2019 Cappies Gala Recordings