The top two winners from the Sub-Section contests compete for the chance to move to the State festival. Participating schools were: Byron; Fillmore Central; Grand Meadow; Rushford-Peterson; St. Charles; Stewartville; Triton; Wabasha-Kellogg.Plays performed were:
Wade the Bird -- Trista Baldwin
A Mother's Story -- Sandra Miller
Cannibals -- Heather Dundas
The Cards of Fate -- Ed Monk
A Danish Soap or The Danes of Our Lives -- Peter Filichi
The Bald Soprano -- Eugene Ionesco
I Never Saw a Moor -- John Schreiber
Normal People -- Mike Willis
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I cannot comment on the first three plays of the day. I directed Cannibals and was back stage during the performance, but from the parents who'd seen ever production said that it was the best yet.
But because we were third in line, we were preparing during the first two shows. As I had already seen Wade the Bird at sub-section, I didn't need to see it again. I am sorry I missed A Mother's Story.
The Cards of Fate, by Ed Monk, was an interesting show. The premise was interesting -- a game show in which the contestant's answers had consequences FAR beyond the television studio, and included life and death for some. The set and costumes for this production were extravagant. The acting, sadly, was mostly a pastiche of caricatures. While the script is written in such a way that the characters are a bit over-the-top, making them a little more real to the audience might have helped it to get across better. It came across as melodrama, rather than a dark comedy.
Peter Filichi's A Danish Soap or The Danes of Our Lives, depends, as you can imagine, on a series of puns relating to Shakespeare. I thought that the script was quite funny but that the staging of the play was absolutely dreadful. Some of the dialog was moderately funny, but again, that was largely due to the script, and not the performances, which I felt were wooden.
What can I say about The Bald Soprano, by my hero, Eugene Ionesco? It's done fairly often, but I thought that some of the choices for this productions where quite fun. I liked, specifically, the costuming. The choice of color coordinating, along with wildly colored hair, was quite nice. The timing was very good, and I really appreciate high school students who aren't afraid of the pause. Especially in a show like this. The maid was overly-annoying, the cuckoo in the clock was not absurd, but ridiculous, and the giant ear was ... what the hell was it?! It's not in the script. Still, the commitment to the piece by the cast was really tremendous.
John Schreiber's original piece, I Never Saw a Moor, was deathly dull, and only moderately well acted. This is an "issue" play, and lord knows we see an awful lot of those at the high school level. The difference is that it's not about AIDS or the holocaust or teen suicide. This time it was about epilepsy. Sorry, but issue plays drive me crazy.
The final play of the day, Normal People, by Mike Willis, was another "issue" play. This time about AIDS. A high school student contracts the HIV virus through a blood transfusion and gets full-blown AIDS and then ostricized by her classmates and school -- except by one boy, a high school football player who everyone thinks is a bit dull and a jerk. The acting was monotone and boring. Strange costume choices had matching boys and girls wearing matching, vivid color outfits. Why? Were we really not going to get who was dating whom? Did it matter? This was my choice for worst production of the day.
My prediction was that Bald Soprano would get top prize. I thought that 2nd place could go just about any way, depending on the judges. I was hoping ... perhaps even expecting ... that our production of Cannibals would place in the top four.
Final result:
1st place: The Bald Soprano
2nd place: A Mother's Story
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5th place: Cannibals
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