Being Lucy

Staunton teen Lydia Freesen, 17, knows Lucille Ball.
Her 10-minute one-woman play on the legendary comedienne and actress has advanced the home school student to the final round of the National History Day competition, where she will represent Virginia in the performance category.
Her parents are not surprised.
“She’s a bright girl,” said her father, Guy Freesen. “Very enthusiastic, very talented in terms of her theatrical expression and her musical abilities.”
“She is a very outgoing girl, very sociable and very dramatic, which ties in well with the performance aspect [of the compeition],” said mother Sue Feesen. “She’s a good student, does her work well and has achieved well in other subjects. But her real love has always been theater. She’s always loved music. [NHD] fits well with her interests.”
National History Day is a year-long non-profit education program encouraging hands-on student research of historical subjects. The contest motivates students to conduct in-depth analysis of historical events and figures – and to present that knowledge in a fresh, creative way.
Lydia competed in the regional competition at James Madison University on March 12, with her historical biography of Ball. Her first-place win moved the teenager along to the state competition, held in Williamsburg on April 26, where she ranked second. The final round of the National History Day competition will be held at the University of Maryland, in College Park, on June 15-19.
“The program is so unique and effective because, the main event is the contest, but this is not about academic competition,” said Noah Shaw, technology and public affairs associate for National History Day. “The competition aspect serves as a great motivation and energizes them in the copious amount of research they have to do. … Even if they don’t get past the first stage of competition [regionals], they say ‘My God, I’ve done so much research. I know so much about this topic. I feel this academic adoration for this topic.’ They’ve come to know [the subject] so intimately. They’ve been engrossed just like any historian or researcher.”
Students who accept the NHD challenge compete in one of five categories – documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or Web site. The winners in each category receive a medal and an associated cash prize; gold medalists will earn $1,000, silver $500 and bronze $250.
Entries are judged on historical quality, clarity of presentation and adherence to theme – this year’s theme is “Conflict and Compromise in History.”
No stranger to the stage, Lydia has performed with ShenArts for many years. She has made appearances in plays like “Pride and Prejudice” and “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Freesen will assume a main role in the upcoming ShenArts production of “Quilters” as both a performer and vocalist.
So why did Lydia choose Lucille Ball as the subject of her biographical performance?
“I wanted to do a project on Lucille Ball because, after I had looked at the theme for National History Day, Lucille Ball just popped into my head because she didn’t really compromise while she was on [‘I Love Lucy’],” said Lydia. “And she had a ton of conflicts during the run of the show. Because she never compromised I thought she would be an interesting perspective on the theme.”