Eight high schools that took first and second places at a previous competition face off for the chance to perform at the State level.
Schools (and directors) participating were:
Cannon Falls -- Joseph Burns
Kasson-Mantorville -- Melissa Ferris
Rushford-Peterson -- Forrest Musselman
Spring Grove -- Sarah J. Holland
St. Charles -- Theodore Derby
Stewartville -- Nick Johnson
Triton -- John Schreider
Wabasha-Kellogg -- Cris Medina
Judges were:
Theresa Luther-Dolan
Pat Sween
Mike Tillmann
Plays performed:
The Swimmer by F. Xavier Hogan
The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco
All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
A Play With Words by Peter Bloedel
The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon by Don Zolidis
Deus Ex Machina -- original production
Everyman In The Circus of Life by Travis Tyre
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, dramatized by Kathryn Schultz Miller
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The Swimmer was an interesting theatrical piece -- part theatre of the absurd, part philosophical treatise. It was performed well, but the direction seemed to meander.
The Bald Soprano. This is a much too popular high school piece that has been done extremely well recently. Unfortunately, this was NOT done well. My kudos to the director for trying something new and for a unique theme to the production, but I felt that the acting was sub-par and the theme not carried through particularly well.
All I Really Need to Know... was a fabulous production. The direction was impeccable and the acting above par. Only one scene was slightly less than perfect as an actress was hard to hear. However, you could have heard a pin drop in the packed theatre as everyone there was leaning forward to hear what she was saying -- that's how caught up the audience was with the production.
A Play With Words was unremarkable.
The Brothers Grimm... is another play that has been done a little too much lately. This production was slightly above average, but still lacked a cohesive, group perfromance.
Deus Ex Machina was a clear audience favorite. A cast full of energy that never seemed to stop. The story was somewhat hackneyed and contrived, but it was well directed and performed.
Everyman in the Circus of Life ... oh, what to say. This play is just dull. It has nothing to do with the actors or the director...it's just full of talk with little action. Why would anyone want to perform it? A tough play for a talented cast to overcome.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was another, unremarkable play. At least one actor seemed to be completely lost on stage. I hope, for his sake, that he had just joined the cast as a replacement.
My rating:
I had this as a tie for first place between All I Need to Know... and Deus Ex Machina and I would have given the edge to All I Need to Know... Third place would have been a tie between The Swimmer and Everyman... based solely on the acting. All else gets ranked as fifth place.
Actual winners (good grief!):
1st place: The Swimmer
2nd place: The Bald Soprano
The fact that these two directors have won this competition for the past eight years has nothing to do with it, right?
1 comment:
I know you have stated there is not any reason anyone should be reading your blog, but it is on the Internet and it popped up in my search, so I read it. Please forgive the intrusion. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your commentary on the OAP festivals the past few years. I am a regular director for one of the schools and it was great to jog the memory. I especially agreed with your commentary on the 2010 results. One Act judges have shocked me in the past, but never have I been so shocked as I was last year. I remember saying to one of my friends after those performances, “well, we won’t go to state, but at least we know we will beat them.” Anyway, I hope you keep up the blog, I look forward to reading your commentary on this years shows.
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