Advancing One Act Play

UIL is an important event for many high school students of all backgrounds. Kids come together to compete against other high schools in Texas, vying for the top spot and the honor of returning to their school as champions. Whether you’re in sports, choir, band, art, music, or theater, there is an opportunity to participate. 

On March 25th, Anderson’s theater department traveled to the PAC (Performing Arts Center) to present their show, “Machinal,” for Texas’s One Act Play UIL District competition. Their opponents consisted of six schools, including McCallum High School, Bastrop High School, Crockett High School, LASA, Cedar Creek High School, and Navarro High School. All seven excellent schools in the competition put forth their best effort, but in the end, only three programs could advance to the Bi-District competition.

Anderson’s performance was given the second-to-last timeslot and absolutely swept the audience and the judges away. Laughs were shared, tears were shed, and the entire crowd was deeply moved by the expressionist style of the play. The judges were very impressed with the Anderson students’ acting skills and presented multiple acting awards to Trojan students, including Mason Chen, Atticus Sencenbaugh, and Steely Schmid.

The leader of the cast and crew is stage manager Ayla Marchman, who was also gifted with an award at the ceremony. Her dedication, as well as the cast and crew’s responsiveness, are what boosted Anderson Theater to the qualifying spot. The post-performance raving reviews came in fast, with many praising the expressionistic style of the show.

Director Rachel Seney is the creative mind behind the blocking and design of the show, but she insists that “The kids are the ones building this show from the ground up. It honestly couldn’t be the show that it is without the hard work they’ve put in.” The hard work has been paying off,seeing that, as of April 2nd, Anderson Theater also advanced from the Bi-District to the Area competition.

Bi-District was a whole new playing field. Hosted at Connally High School and performed in a completely different space, the theater department still rocked the competition and received high praise from their critique judges. Competing against 5 schools made the pressure even more overbearing, but the dedication of the students made it all possible. 

Steely Schmidt took home the “Best Performer” award for both competitions in a row, which is given to the two most outstanding actors of the night out of all of the competing schools. “I’m shocked and incredibly honored to have been thought of for this award twice. I’m glad that everything I have done to make the performance the best I can was recognized in such a way.” Earning this award is a great achievement and takes intense focus and skill. According to reigning champion Steely, “I believe that one of the most important things for the judges to see is the subtext of how the character is feeling versus what she’s actually saying. Honestly, […] the script lends itself to this.” When asked what she thought made her stand out from the rest of the competition, she guessed, “it was because I was able to capture the subtlety behind the mask decently well.”

Once again, the theater department rocked the Bi-District competition. After advancing to Area, our Trojans skillfully secured their place as top three again, meaning Anderson High School Theater is going to the Region competition hosted in Houston. One more performance could guarantee Anderson’s participation in the final State competition.

As UIL One-Act continues, we wish our Anderson Theater department the best of luck at the rest of their competitions. You’ve already made your school incredibly proud. Keep it up, Trojans!