One act team celebrates improvements, accomplishments

Emmy Tederman • December 14, 2023

Senior Hailey Drews and sophomore Bella Sliva stare in shock as three of their friends jump off the stage. At the end of the play, Drews’s character was the only one left on stage. (Emmy Tederman)

Year by year, the one act has been working to improve their performance, and this year it paid off with a third place finish at the Capitol Conference competition.

“My first year coaching three years ago, we got last place, last year we got sixth or seventh place and then this year we got third place,” said one act director Matthew Gunter.

Placing four spots higher from last year to this year has been a huge accomplishment for the team and individuals.

“Compared to last year, we got seventh, so it’s a big jump from last year to [this year], which is just another aspect of that growth,” said senior Reagan Wilson.

The improvement isn’t the only part of what makes this achievement memorable; it’s also the tough competition.

“We have a lot of great schools in our conference, so…for us to get third place behind Louisville and others, we’re very, very proud of that,” said Gunter.

To achieve this goal, the students really focused on their acting skills this season, especially since their play only had five main characters.

“When our acting is not where it needs to be…the message and focus of the play can really get lost. So, we always have to make sure that we are putting everything into our acting,” said Wilson.

Some students used their castmates to push their skills and improve.

“I would use the other actresses as motivation to do better. When Ronnie (Reagan) did better, I was motivated to do better, to level up with her or match her energy,” said senior Skylar Crews.

Senior Hailey Drews, Skylar Crews and Lexi Bisaillon fall on their knees after Reagan Wilson jumps off the stage. Each actress received an outstanding actor award this season. (Emmy Tederman)

This focus on acting paid off as Wilson and Crews, along with castmates Lexi Bisaillon, Bella Sliva and Hailey Drews, all received outstanding actor awards multiple times this season.

“I mean, with all the work we’ve put into it, getting awards to show just how much work we’ve put into it is really cool,” said sophomore Sliva.

Unfortunately, the team didn’t get the recognition they were hoping for at districts, though they showed improvement there as well.

“This year for districts, we got six place out of eight schools, which again, we wished of course to be higher, but for my third year coaching, you know, two years ago, we got eighth place,” said Gunter.

Even though the season is now over, Gunter is still proud of all the work, time and effort the students gave to show off their talent to the school and judges.

“Overall, we are very, very proud of the progression and how much we’ve done this year,” said Gunter.