The Pampa High School Theater is in competition season for One Act Play, this year the department is taking on a more serious toned play about Violet Sharp, a maid for the Lindbergh family.
One Act is a competition that schools in the district compete in by putting on theatre performances. The competition challenges the students to tell the story of their chosen play in 40 minutes. Going over their time disqualifies them from any further advancemnt.
This year’s story follows a young maid who works for the Lindbergh family around the time of the well-known kidnapping of the aviator’s 20 month-old son. When asked about this year’s play in particular, the second year Teacher, Haley Anderson said it takes on a somber tone.
“This year’s play is a little bit darker than normal. The play shows some heavier events, at the end of the play the main character kills herself from the struggles of being accused of the kidnapping and killing of the young boy,” Anderson said. “This play tells a real story, with some events that we sometimes push under the rug or don’t really talk about. I found the realness valuable and challenging to the kids to really step into the role.”
The play only has a cast of 23 students, per UIL’s limit of 24 allowed, there is 13 cast members, seven crew and three understudies. This years team has already completed its first competition and placed second among all schools, making it the highest standing in a few years.
“The kids were really nervous leading up to to the competition, but all of their adrenaline and nerves peaked at the right time and they went out and put on the best show so far,” Anderson said.
The theater teacher has been reading scripts since August but landed on this one and was intrigued to see how well the cast would do. The team competes in three weeks on March 24th at Bi-District and hopes to take it all the way to state in May. The cast will be performing at home free to the public on March 26th
“One of the biggest challenges is assuring them that they can do it,” Anderson said. “Fine Arts is almost looked down on in a way. I like that, with theater, any kid can be a part of it, and these kids that may not ever interact otherwise can find a common ground and interest here and bond.” Haley is assisted in directing with a first-year teacher at Pampa High, along with a UIL coordinator. Within the district, she is the only theater teacher, “I love this subject, I’ve always loved theater. I graduated from West Texas A&M and took the job here and have loved it.”
The One Act play competion takes place in different schools and the cast performs for a panel of three judges, who rank them on a 1-6 scale with one being the best result possible.
“You never know what the judges are looking for” Anderson said.
The team placed second in the first go around, receiving a score of 1-2-3, closely behind Canyon. The stage crew makes good use of what they have to build the set, parents donate props to be used or help make new.
Abram Reeves, who plays Harry Walsh in the play is the main detective and Reeves has coined himself as the villian of this years play.
“These are my people, that’s what I like about One Act,” Reeves said. “The hardest part about it is probably making the set and cutting some lines in order to make the show work in the time limit.”
Betty Gow, the nanny of the young Charlie Lindberg is played by Jacilyn Hall, who is not new to the world of theater, she’s been apart of the program for seven years.
“I like the feeling of being on-stage and providing a story to the audience and growing close with everyone,” Hall said. “I think the hardest part is making it come to life, while also telling the story in a respectful manner.”
Mayson Solis, is the assistant stage manner and it is his first year of being a part of the program.
“I like the people most of all, and the high stakes that go into it,” Solis said. “It’s fun. For me as assistant stage manager, the hardest part is trying to make sure everyone and everything is in the right place so the show goes smoothly, and also trying to help out backstage when people are nervous or don’t feel confident but I like it.”
The lead of the show is no stranger to being on stage for an audience. Bekka Ruzvidzo was also a major part of this year’s Pampa High School Choir musicial, Cinderella.
“I love the rush of adrenaline of being on stage,” Ruzvidzo said. “When you’re on stage, you’re like oh my gosh this is why I do it.”
Her character, the main focus of the play, quickly becomes the primary suspect in the investigation over the missing Lindbergh baby.“I believe she was innocent even though it was never technically proven,” Ruzvidzo said. “For me the hardest part was having to stitch together her spiral throughout the show. She starts out as this very happy sharp tongued young woman who by the end of it is broken and nothing to live for.”
The cast and crew were able to get on a Zoom call with the playwright, William Cameron, and talk with him. He encouraged the cast and congratulated them on the accomplishment from their first performance and sent a gift of flowers that can now be found on stage as a prop to remind the cast of his gratituded for what they’ve done with his play. The kids now are in the process of fine tuning the show as best they can before taking on the next competition day in three weeks. They performed three shows this past weekend that were open to the public to showcase what they had been working on since early January. More information can be found on the schools website www.pampaisd.net.
The Pampa News would like to wish them good luck in competition.
