Washburn one-act dominates regional competition
By Danielle Abbott
Six weeks of intense morning, afternoon and night practices build up the anticipation for one night of competition. The countless hours of commitment and preparation will either pay off, or the team will be stopped short, having worked that hard for nothing. Most team sports and activities do not work on this intense of a format, but for high school one-act, that is exactly the case. The Washburn one-act cast and crew were able to perform once for the high school as a warmup to their big competition. The Region VII One-act competition took place in Hazen on Thursday. Of the teams that compete at regionals, only the top two placing teams advance to the state level. "You basically have one shot," explained one-act coach Vickie Mayer, "You just hope that you have a really good performance and that you come out one or two." The team did not know what to expect at the competition, but the Hazen team was marked as the team to beat. "Going into competitions like this, you can’t really expect to come out with anything, because you will never know what the judges are expecting," said cast member James Cavo. The judges have the final decision in how the teams are scored, but the other teams and their play selection and performances can affect how the Washburn team is ranked. All of these elements were leaning in Washburn’s favor on Thursday, and the team finished first at the competition. Along with being crowned champions of the region, two of the Washburn cast members, Alexis Kelsch and James Cavo received the Superior Acting Award. Cast member Hanna Borner received an honorable mention action award.
