The Minnesota State festival for High School One Acts.
Schools must win two different competitions to perform at this level. Competition is broken down to two different categories - 1A and 2A, depending on the size of the school. This year I attended the 2A (larger schools) State One Acts.
Performing were:
"PK Xmas" by David Hawley (North, North St. Paul)
"Wit" by Margaret Edson (Anoka)
"The Romancers" by Edmond Rostrand (Dassel-Cokato)
"The Boys Next Door" by Tom Griffin (Forest Lake)
"Marvin's Room" by Scott McPherson (Minnetonka)
"Doubt: A Parable" by John Patrick Shanley (Eagan)
"Ordinary People" by Nancy Gilsenan (Albert Lea)
"Bits and Pieces" by Corinne Jacker (Moorhead)
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Competing in the 1A competition, it was nice to see some schools unique to me, for a change. However, I didn't see much difference in quality, as I expected. I thought that with the larger schools we'd see more impressive sets or higher quality of acting. It wasn't so.
Most of these plays were heavy dramas, dealing with death and trying to make some sort of sense of this ("Bits and Pieces" "Ordinary People" "Marvin's Room" "Wit").
"The Romancers" stood out as being most unique, and mostly well done, but it did drag somewhat.
"The Boys Next Door" was well done, but lacked a through-line. Was it the cutting?
"Bits and Pieces" was well performed and I enjoyed the presentation. Similarly, "Doubt" was well performed and strong. Many around me seemed to really find the performances of the leads in "Wit" and "Marvin's Room" exceptionally strong. I was not overly impressed.
Still, a great way to spend the day, watching theatre.
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