Kelly Stewart
Staff Writer
Right now, the actors of CHS are hard at work, prepairing for this year’s UIL One Act competition with their play, Cinderella Waltz.
The One Act competition challenges each school theatre group to act out a play under strict guidelines. For example, none of the plays can be over 40 minutes.
“Basically, we have a 40-minute play, and there are a lot of rules to it,” Cinderella Waltz cast member Maria Zuniga said. “For example, there are restrictions on set you have to follow the script exactly, and you have to be completely under 40 minutes, or else you will be disqualified. So it’s very stressful.”
The actors have a few months to go to clinics and practice and perfect the piece. Then they compete against other district schools in the first round of competition.
For many crew members, it is a good way to hone skills and to get to know fellow actors. The competition allows them to try things they would not be able to with a regular high school play.
“You have a lot longer than a regular play to work on it and get really good, so you get really tight as the cast and crew,” Zuniga said. “And you are held up to a higher standard, and [as a result] you grow as an actor.”
The selected play for this year is Cinderella Waltz, which puts an interesting spin on the traditional Cinderella story.
“This is not the Cinderella story,” Director Bruce Hermans said. “Well, it is the Cinderella story, but it’s much, much, much darker, and I think it’s much more like the Grimm brothers originally intended it. Each of the characters goes through the same deep transformation, trying to figure out what life is and what they want out of it.”
According to the UIL website, over 14,000 high school students in over 1,000 plays participate in the competition in over 300 individual contests every year. The five levels of competition are zone/district, area, region and state. The CHS theatre students will be competing in the first level, zone/district, on March 24 at Denton-Gyer.
The theatre students will have two public performances before then at CHS on March 21-22 at 7:30.
For the students themselves, theatre and acting is what they enjoy doing, more than any competition. They use theatre as a way to express themselves and find others that share in their interests.
“Theatre’s fun, it’s crazy, and everyone is accepted,” cast member freshman Mabry Culp said. “You can be whoever you want to be and you learn a lot about yourself.”
The CHS theatre members have reached the area levels for the past two years, going as far as getting an honorable mention at that level.
“Our district in our area is generally considered the toughest in the state,” Hermans said. “Someone from our district always makes it to state, every year.”
