Regardless of taking time off from COVID 19, Windham High School students have been participating in a drama festival for more than five years designed to showcase one-act plays, and these are theater productions that typically run 20 to 40 minutes.
 |
| Windham High School students participating in the One Act Drama Festival include top from left, Stuart Gabaree, Abigail Coleman, Victoria Lin, Emma Kennedy, Ralph Leavitt, Theodore Becker, Liam Yates, Lucas Oldershaw, CJ Payne, and Maddy Cook. Bottom from left are Rosario Lydon, Francesca Lomonte, Erica Linn, Molly Plati, Riley Yates, Sophie Koutalakis, Bryce Smith, Nicholas Davenport, Elijah Snow and Maia Ransom. PHOTO BY JOLENE BAILEY |
This annual event is arranged by Maine Principals’ Association and Maine Drama Council. The festival is divided into two classes, A and B with Class A consisting of schools with 500 or more students, and Class B having schools with less than 500 students.
In order to be eligible, all participants must be in grades 9 to 12.
This year’s Class A competition will feature the WHS performance, a farce comedy about the founding of a fictional midwest American town, “Humbletown: The Greatest Town on Earth.”
Windham Director CJ Payne, has assembled a cast of 15 high schoolers, including six student technicians, and an additional pit crew of four talented student musicians.
“It is my first time working with WHS students as a director, and not just a technical director. I wanted to choose a fun and silly comedy with lots of characters, so that it could attract the involvement of as many students as possible,” Payne said. “Fortunately, it worked and we're currently working with a cast and crew of 25 students from freshman to seniors.”
Theater has influenced Payne’s life since childhood, and he has been working as the Auditorium Coordinator for WHS for over 10 years.
“Not only can you see the show you imagine at first start to come to life in front of your eyes, but also to find the great creativity the actors and technicians bring to the rehearsal process, which makes the end result so much more than you first envisioned,” he said.
Madison Cook is a freshman who portrays the roles of Broom 3, Salutatory 4, Greta, and Humblepie Humblefolk.
“I have been doing theater ever since I was 10 years old, so roughly five years,” she said. “It’s not much but it’s enough that it has made a huge impact on my life,” Cook said.
Performances on stage can be as amusing to partake in comparatively than watching the production live.
Rehearsals have been improving at a significant pace to get to a comfortable 40-minute time mark. Festival rules state if any performance is above the given limit of 40 minutes, disqualification is at risk.
One-Act plays are shorter than a typical musical. However, the cast and crew has put a lot of time and effort into entertaining the crowd.
Ava Dickson has been doing theater since last year and has been in six plays within that time frame.
“This is my first theater play that is not a musical, so the biggest difference is that we don't have to sing and dance,” said Dickson, who plays the roles of Little Suzie, Brenda, Women 3 and Ghost 2.
For many WHS actors, this is their first non-musical theatrical activity.
“What I have done in the past is usually musicals rather than one acts or plays, but this is a superior, fun play that I’m happy I get to be a part of. This will be my first year at the one act competition. It’s different but very exciting,” said Cook.
In contrast, this festival has brought many new experiences for others, including technicians.
“This is my first time helping out backstage for a WHS production,” said junior Ralph Leavitt. “Being behind the scenes of Humbletown is an incredible new experience for me, I get to meet new people and spend time with friends. Humbletown is different from other productions in quite a few ways, producing backstage is far more hands-on for example.”
Another difference between usual high school productions and the One Act Drama Festival is that schools will be judged. Like anyone on stage, they will be watched, but this will be for critiques.
Each individual judge will provide three minutes of feedback to improve the school's performance. In return, the students will have three minutes to ask any questions to the judge when applicable.
Two preview performances of “Humbletown: The Greatest Town on Earth,” will be held at the Windham Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on March 3 and March 4. There is no admission charge but donations are accepted and highly appreciated.
The One Act performance at the festival itself will be at Thornton Academy in Saco, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11. <
“Not only can you see the show you imagine at first start to come to life in front of your eyes, but also to find the great creativity the actors and technicians bring to the rehearsal process, which makes the end result so much more than you first envisioned,” he said.
Madison Cook is a freshman who portrays the roles of Broom 3, Salutatory 4, Greta, and Humblepie Humblefolk.
“I have been doing theater ever since I was 10 years old, so roughly five years,” she said. “It’s not much but it’s enough that it has made a huge impact on my life,” Cook said.
Performances on stage can be as amusing to partake in comparatively than watching the production live.
Rehearsals have been improving at a significant pace to get to a comfortable 40-minute time mark. Festival rules state if any performance is above the given limit of 40 minutes, disqualification is at risk.
One-Act plays are shorter than a typical musical. However, the cast and crew has put a lot of time and effort into entertaining the crowd.
Ava Dickson has been doing theater since last year and has been in six plays within that time frame.
“This is my first theater play that is not a musical, so the biggest difference is that we don't have to sing and dance,” said Dickson, who plays the roles of Little Suzie, Brenda, Women 3 and Ghost 2.
For many WHS actors, this is their first non-musical theatrical activity.
“What I have done in the past is usually musicals rather than one acts or plays, but this is a superior, fun play that I’m happy I get to be a part of. This will be my first year at the one act competition. It’s different but very exciting,” said Cook.
In contrast, this festival has brought many new experiences for others, including technicians.
“This is my first time helping out backstage for a WHS production,” said junior Ralph Leavitt. “Being behind the scenes of Humbletown is an incredible new experience for me, I get to meet new people and spend time with friends. Humbletown is different from other productions in quite a few ways, producing backstage is far more hands-on for example.”
Another difference between usual high school productions and the One Act Drama Festival is that schools will be judged. Like anyone on stage, they will be watched, but this will be for critiques.
Each individual judge will provide three minutes of feedback to improve the school's performance. In return, the students will have three minutes to ask any questions to the judge when applicable.
Two preview performances of “Humbletown: The Greatest Town on Earth,” will be held at the Windham Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on March 3 and March 4. There is no admission charge but donations are accepted and highly appreciated.
The One Act performance at the festival itself will be at Thornton Academy in Saco, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11. <
No comments:
Post a Comment