High School Theatre Festival
North Atlanta High School
2875 Northside Dr NW Atlanta, GA 30305-2898
Adjudicators: Robert Johnson, Gai Jones, Ben Martin
Presiders: David Giambrone (Westminster Christian Academy), Bill Murray
Thursday, March 3rd
10:30-11:15 am Independence Pop. 301 - West Orange High School, FL
Written and directed by Ken Rush
The year is 1919 and a Southern Louisiana town is faced with a racially explosive situation when a young black man is wrongly accused of raping a local white teenage girl. The daughter of a local farmer, she has been deaf since an early age. The young lady establishes her independence when she faces the accuser in a court of law in front of her family and her town.
11:30 am-12:15 pm Eurydice - Milton High School, GA
Written by , directed by Larry S. Smith
Based on the familiar Greek myth about lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, playwright Sarah Ruhl adapts a modern translation that tells the story from Eurydice's point of view of marriage, death, and life in the Underworld. Though the story is tragic, there's plenty of comedy and interesting characters to keep the play buoyant.
12:30-1:15 pm Jenny Saint Joan - Owensboro High School, KY
Written by Norman Allen, directed by Carolyn Greer
In this retelling of the legend of Joan of Arc, young Jenny is torn between two men, the peasant Colin who offers her love and the playful Archangel Michael who offers her glory as the savior of France. Choosing glory over love, Jenny makes the ultimate sacrifice.
1:30-2:15 pm The Purple Fan - Starkville High School, MS
Written by Kenneth Scollon, adapted by Starkville HS, directed by Mandy Kinney
Jing Ho is a young beggar on a journey to find the kingdom's lost prince. Set in China, the play tells of the obstacles the child faces and the odd characters he meets on his way.
2:30-3:15 pm Nora's Lost - Lake Norman High School, NC
Written by Alan Haehnel, directed by Kelly Dowell
Debilitated by Alzheimer's disease, Nora Blodget follows the vision of her late husband into the woods on a cold night. Nora's life flashes before her -- revealing her former life as a dynamic teacher, a caring wife, and a loving mother. This poignant one-act explores the nature of memory and familial love, fractured by the onset of dementia.
5:30-6:15 pm The Real Teens - Wando High School, SC
Written by Neal Lerner, directed by Lori Carroll
This new work, commissioned for Wando Theatre, takes a glimpse into the lives of typical (but not stereotypical) teenagers. Amidst the laughter and banality of daily life, characters search for answers to life’s problems and seek connections with each other.
6:30-7:15 pm The Outsiders - Christ Presbyterian Academy, TN
Written by S.E. Hinton, directed by Nancy Thomas
The Outsiders paints the life of “Greasers” and “Socs in the 1950s. Walking home at night from the movies, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny are violently attacked. Suddenly things turn out differently than the Socs planned, and their leader, Bob lays sprawled dead on the ground. The challenges and choices that ensue make this story as relevant now as when it was first penned.
7:30-8:15 pm Man of La Mancha - Virginia, Albemarle HS
Written by Dale Wasserman, Music by Mitch Leigh, Lyrics by Joe Darion, directed by Fay CunninghamMiguel de Cervantes has been thrown into a dungeon to await trial by the Spanish Inquisition. His fellow prisoners confiscate his possessions, including his unfinished manuscript. in desperation Cervantes offers a defense by means of entertainment, transforming himself into Don Quixote, his faithful manservant into Sancho, and the prisoners into various characters, inspiring them to believe the impossible dream.
8:30-9:15 pm Tick, Tick, Boom - Greenbrier East High School, WV
Written by Jonathan Larson, directed by Samuel Yates
Larson's tick, tick...BOOM! is a humorous, touching, as well as ironic view of a young man dealing with the frustration of reaching a milestone in time before reaching the professional milestone of his life's work.
9:30-10:15 pm A Binding Commitment - Spain Park High School, AL
Written and directed by Jesse Tilton
Detective Roger Payne cracks missing person cases that are piling up in The Big Easy with the help of detective-in-training Eugene Daniels and the femme fatale Vivian. On the trail of clues Payne finds trouble as Agnes, the angry librarian, seeks vengeance for those who have damaged her precious books.
FRIDAY, March 4th
10:30-11:15 am 13 - Gulf Breeze High School, FL
Written by Jason Robert Brown, directed by Margie Timmons
Thirteen “13” is a musical comedy about the journey of a group of 13 year olds and the difficulties they face and the choices they must make.
11:30 am-12:15 pm The 39 Steps - Harlem High School, GA
Written by Patrick Barlow, directed by Roy Lewis
This faced paced farce is filled with spies, espionage, murders, cross country chases and love. The cast leads you from London to the marshes of Scotland to help stop the crime of the century. From Georgia Harlem High presents Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps.”
12:30-1:15 pm Women and Wallace - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, KY
Written by Jonathan Marc Sherman, directed by Tonya Merritt
Told through a mosaic of related scenes, “Women and Wallace” follows Wallace’s interactions with various women following his mother’s suicide when he is a child.
1:30-2:15 pm Antigone - Oxford High School, MS
Written by Sophocles’, Translated by Richard Emil Braun gone, directed by John Davenport
A re-invention of the classic Greek tragedy for the modern audience; go inside the mind of the Kreon and see how guilt and paranoia bring him to his ultimate fall.
2:30-3:15 pm Into the Woods, Jr - Charlotte Christian School, NC
Book by James Lapine, Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Michelle Long
Many of the most beloved fairytale characters head “Into the Woods”, desperate to get their individual wishes. When they run into one another, they realize that getting what they want influences the journey of those around them. It is then that they have to choose which path they will take to get what they want, and what they are willing to sacrifice along the way.
5:30-6:15 pm Children of a Lesser God, Act I - Rock Hill High School, SC
Written by Mark Medoff, directed by Stephanie Daniels
“Children of a Lesser God” is a love story about a speech teacher who falls for a beautiful yet distant deaf woman in a school for the deaf, and the obstacles that they face due to their differences.
6:30-7:15 pm The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
Center For Creative Arts, TN
Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, directed by Magge Hudgins
A wild ride full of slapstick comedy, outrageous parody and an upheaval of what we know as the work of one of the greatest playwrights in history. Although this play brags of clever farce and fast paced physical comedy, “Complete Works” could not be successful without actors that have a good sense of text, character and story.
7:30-8:15 pm Terminal - Mountain View High School, VA
Written by Susan Yankowitz, directed by Tom Clark
TERMINAL is an experiential meditation on death. It uses theatre to explore a theme: we reflect on death; our very mortality. We are asked to confront, accept and celebrate the inevitable and question our own, often unexamined, life.
8:30-9:15 pm The Proposal - Shades Valley High School, AL
Written by Anton Chekhov (Translated by Paul Schmidt), directed by Dustin HelmerAt 35 years old, Ivan VassilievichLomov is ready to start living a normal, regular life. How better to begin than by marrying the neighbor's daughter!
High Schools representing the
ten southeastern states, will present performances during the
Annual SETC Convention.
After each high school performance, adjudicators respond to the production
and provide valuable critique that focuses on the production elements as
well as the production as a whole. What worked? What were the challenges?
Awards are presented at the SETC Banquet on Saturday Night.
Did you win your state Festival? Find out what to do next in the online State Festival Winners Manual.
