One-Act play contest held at Win-E-Mac High School

The Bagley High School One-Act play cast and its director Marilyn Hood placed first at the Sub-Section 29 competition and will go on to compete in Sectionals at Warren on Saturday, February 4, 2017. The name of their play was "Dark Road". The competition was held at the Win-E-Mac Arts & Events Center on Thursday, January 28, 2017.

The 18-member play cast competed with five other area schools-Oklee, Win-E-Mac, Clearbrook-Gonvick, Fosston, and  Kelliher.Coming in second was the cast of the Clearbrook-Gonvick High School with their interpretation of the play "Postponing the Heat Death of the Universe".

According to Director Marilyn Hood, "The play 'Dark Road' is the story of a young woman who takes a job at a concentration camp during the Nazi regime in Germany. The main character Greta needs a job to simply put food on the table for her 16-year-old sister Lise and herself after the death of their parents. While working at the camp, Greta's character changes dramatically as she is required to commit horrific acts as it is her job to do so. In later years, she is interviewed by a reporter and has some regrets as her conscience bothers her." The mood of the play is somber as are the gray props and gray-painted faces of the actors.

For Clearbrook-Gonvick's play, "Postponing the Heat Death of the Universe", the main character Nick, played by Xavier Goodwin; Jackie-played by Savanna Rankin; and Stacy-played by Jazmyn Smith -carried most of the dialogue for the play as Nick ponders life mysteries while trying to sleep. It is a philosophical idea of who will survive the end of the world.  Their coach is Mark Carter.

The other four schools also competed and here is a brief synopsis of their plays: Oklee (Red Lake Central ) chose the play "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon" by Don Zolidis. The two narrators Sydney Melby and Tom Nelson combined several of Grimm's fairy tales into one big adventure complete with Rumplestiltskin, Rapunzel, Hansel, Cinderella, and a Prince. 

Kelliher chose "That Was No Lady, That Was a Private Eye" by Dennis Snee. It is about a possible romance between a lady detective and a detective played by Sydney Preston and Jayce Masta. Sydney does not want to promise him anything and character Millie holds a gun on the detectives at the end. However, Sydney is with her man at the end.

Win-E-Mac chose "He Said, She Said, or a Short History of Boy Meets Girl"  by Reid Conrad. This was a delightful play with a romantic theme about how a boy meets a girl. The Puritan couple are really cute in this play. The 15-member play cast was very entertaining.

Fosston chose "The Balkan Women" by Jules Tasca. This play also has a setting in a Balkan prison camp where two devout Muslim women are imprisoned during the Balkan War in the 1990's. I thought the performance of Claire Nelson as the daughter and Mary Balstad as the mother was outstanding  as they delivered most of the dialogue. Another outstanding character was Jayson Osmondson as Col. Brandislav Herak, the camp's prison guard.  

Each play in a One-Act contest lasts approximately 30 minutes. There are many variables for judges to look for such as the acting, the props, and the type of play. Rules from the MSHSL do not require the performance of a published script; however, the judges use critique sheets for each play. The top two plays go on from Sub-Sections; however, only the top one goes on to State Class A One-Act play festival on February 10th, 2017.

Judges for the Sub-Section One-Act plays were Monique Duray, George Liapis, and Shelly Grove.

Congratulations to the Clearbrook-Gonvick play cast and the Bagley play cast for their outstanding performances. Each Bagley cast member received a blue ribbon and medal plus a trophy for their efforts. The Clearbrook-Gonvick play cast received red ribbons and medals and a trophy for their efforts. 

Congratulations to all the schools who participated.