Storming the Stage

One of the most stressful things for a stage manager and fellow techies is standing in the booth and your director is still on stage at 6 minutes and 55 seconds during setup and there are only 5 seconds left before you get disqualified. Constantly checking your stop watch as the show progresses, pleading to God that you don’t have to call a blackout when show time hits 39 minutes and 30 seconds.

Lakeview Centennial Theater Troupe 753 went to the UIL One Act Play Zone competition the week before spring break and advanced to District before getting alternate.

“My favorite part about competing is the people” junior Tristen Wheeler said. “I love hanging out with the cast outside of school. It really feels like I have a whole other support group and family.”

When competing in any UIL event you get to showcase your skills, but performing in UIL One Act Play and getting to entertain an audience with your show is different that writing an essay and following literary rules. Cast and crew members competing get the opportunity to see different shows that you’ve never seen and plays you’ve seen 100 times done differently.

“My favorite show was Over The Tavern [performed by Garland],” senior Devri Beckett said.

According to the students, there is a lot of stress and anxiety that comes with competing in UIL One Act Play competition. There are many rules and time limits that students must follow in order to compete.

“We have to set up and perform in a certain amount of time and that’s probably the most stressful part about UIL,” senior Trevor Newman said. “It’s a make or break it environment.”

Schools are allowed to go into their designated dressing rooms 2 shows before their own to begin the makeup process and getting their costumes on.

“My favorite part was the day of competition,” senior Laryn Kropik said. “I love getting ready in the dressing rooms and the adrenaline of knowing you’re about to perform.”

There are 3 stages that are timed in the process of the show. Cast and crew has 7 minutes to set up their stage, 40 minutes to perform, and 7 minutes to take down. If any school went over even a second during any of the stages, they would be disqualified for advancing.

“[The most stressful part] was setting up the stage before the performance,” senior Brianna Padgett said.

After every show has performed and the judges have met, it’s time for the judges to award different UIL awards.

There are 7 different award categories with a couple different awards in each category. For tech they have All Star Tech awards and Overall Best Tech. For acting they have Best Overall Actor and Actress, All Star Cast, and Honorable Mention All Star Cast. At Zone competition, senior Madison Plunk won All Star Crew, Trevor Newman and junior Hannah Hewitt won Honorable Mention All Star Cast, and senior Aaron Spencer, Laryn Kropik, and Tristen Wheeler won All Star Cast. Senior Spencer Elwood also took home Best Overall Actor at zone competition.

“Getting an award is crazy, especially this time because I was not planning on it at all,” Wheeler said. “It is sort of like ‘Wow, I did that… someone who doesn’t even know me liked it…” There is a difference when a friend says you did good and when a judge gives you an award for it.”

There is always a MVP for different games, events, and in this case shows. The MVP is the “Most Valuable Player,” but in this case “Most Valuable Person” will do.

“I would say Spencer did a great job at keeping the cast together,” Newman said. “He is a great leader and an even better friend. He’s a team player and performed well each time we went to competition.”

Tech is an important part of plays, without it there would just be actors on a stage with full house lights.

“Madison Plunk [was the MVP] because she was there for every rehearsal and was always paying attention to the little things we missed both onstage and off,” Wheeler. “She helped us stay sane by being organized.”

For seniors, this is their last ever UIL competition. This is their last show before they go off to college to do bigger things.

“Honestly I’m going to miss the experience,” Kropik said.” I am going to miss competing and the adrenaline of setting up in 7 minutes. I’m going to miss the bus rides there and back, the restaurant afterwards, the meeting new theater people, and I’m going to miss performing with Lakeview for UIL. I love everyone in the troupe and we are more a family than any other extra curricular. I am going to miss that the most.”