The varsity theater continues participating in the UIL One Act Play competition. This year, their show is titled “They Promised Her the Moon” is a story about female pilot Jerrie Cobb and her ostracization from achieving her dream of going to space.
The cast advanced during both zone and district competitions, and will now compete in the bi-district round on April 2nd at Rudder High School.
“I believe we have a pretty great show right now,” junior and assistant tech director Maggie Spara said. “I think we’ve been ahead of the game for a long time.”
Junior Cailey Castaneda is the leading actress playing the role of Jerrie Cobb, her first lead role in any show she’s ever done.
“I was not expecting to get a lead role,” Castaneda said. “It is very nerve-racking, but eventually I got the hang of it. Honestly, I’m really enjoying it more than anything.”
One Act Play differs from the other productions put on because the company is only given seven minutes to set up and tear down their entire set. They get 40 minutes to perform. They are also given a designated hour-long “official rehearsal” either the day of or the day before competition. If they go over time at any given point, they will be disqualified. After all of the shows, they have an award ceremony congratulating the schools that performed and advanced, as well as select cast members and technicians. They also have judges and clinicians judging the show at all times.
“I think it’s very mentally stressful,” Spara said. “You’re getting judged for every single thing. If you mess up, they will judge you on that and tell you that you didn’t do this or you didn’t do that thing well.”
Junior stage manager Viviana Diaz-Jones said that “there’s the competition aspect where you’re competing instead of collaborating. It’s all in good fun, of course, but typically other schools support us, so it’s kind of a change of pace when they’re going against us.”
Before their first official competition, they had several clinics where they received notes from clinicians to improve their show before competition. It’s just an opportunity to practice and set up in front of new sets of eyes.
“During a clinic,” Castaneda said, “we set up, get into costumes, be in places for the top of the show and run through the show. And then after, we’ll put all the stuff back and the judges will go into a separate room with us where we’ll take notes of whatever things they need for us to change, things they liked, and things they wanted to see again.”
Although One-Act Play is a long and hefty process, the theater department has no doubt in their minds that they are going to do very well.
“I think we have a fantastic company,” Diaz-Jones said, “I think the actors are really getting comfortable with their characters and we’ve gotten some good notes from our clinicians and they’re doing a great job.”
