On November 17 and 18 the Alliance High One-Act performers presented a spoof on the famous Ebenezer Scrooge Christmas play, A Christmas Carol. The play was called I Am Not Ebenezer Scrooge and it is about a guy, named Carter, who leads a life similar to that of Ebenezer Scrooge, which is why the ghosts of past, present, and future accidently visit him instead of Scrooge. Regardless of the mix-up, Carter learns his lesson and changes his ways just in time to celebrate Christmas with his fiancé.
Mrs. Jill Hoesing, the play’s director and an English teacher at AHS, said the initial performances were very important for the One-Act crew because it was their first performance in front of an audience. The One-Act crew will take this play to Districts to compete against several other schools. A primary requirement for One-Act competitions is that the performed play has to be under thirty minutes long. If a play happens to go over thirty minutes judges will drop the group one place in the rankings.
For example, a team would go from first to second or from second to third because their performance broke the thirty minute time limit. Mrs. Hoesing, said both of the initial performances were under thirty minutes, but only by about twelve seconds. She said they will have to cut some parts out of the play to ensure the play will be under time when District competition comes around.
Over the past three years the Alliance High One-Act play has placed well at State competition, including a first place in 2009, a runner-up in 2010, and a third place in 2011. Mrs. Hoesing is hoping for a first place medal again, but she knows that even getting to State will be challenging due to the level of competition they will face at Districts. Three schools in this year’s district have won State Play Production in the past three years and it is one of the toughest districts, if not the toughest district, in the state of Nebraska.
Mrs. Hoesing was happy with the first performances, but said they need to work on making the play more climatic. Because it is a comedy, she said, it is a difficult play to do. One risk of doing a comedy is that after the play is rehearsed for so long, it loses spontaneity and becomes flat.
This years’ play relies a great deal on individual actors compared to last years’ play that relied on choral work. Mrs. Hoesing said because senior Everett Gerth, who plays the role of Carter, is on the stage the entire play he has to carry the tempo of the play. So far, she said, in each performance Everett did a better job selling the idea that he was not Ebenezer Scrooge.
Other lead performers include: senior Saige Benton, junior Ian Nelson, sophomore Collin Cox, senior Brayla Alwin, junior Brianna Ridenour, senior Ashtyn Shrewsbery, junior Roy Kesterson, senior Morgan Boots, junior Roger Bunnell, and senior Kacey Horn.
Mrs. Hoesing said she is very proud of the group of actors she had the honor of working with this year. They met her expectations and had fun while getting work done as well and creating a true masterpiece to take to District competition.
On December 1, the One-Act crew will perform at Districts right here in AHS’s own Performing Arts Center. The SPUD wishes all the actors and actresses good luck. Break a leg.
