In their first year competing, the theatre department earned their first district four title on March 4 in the MSHSAA One Act competition. The group was composed of seniors John Cary, Luis Mejia Ahrens, Danny Cogan and Michael Tran as actors and senior David Braun and junior Jonathan Boyle on tech crew.

“Danny and I tried to keep it pretty cool, just saying thank you and accepting the award. Then we went out into the parking lot and like screamed our heads off because we were really hyped and this was only the beginning,” Cary said. “Now we go against more talented people and compete for state in Springfield this April.”

The group performed “Hidden in this Picture” by Aaron Sorkin. The one act is centered around an overspending director, Robert (John Cary), trying to get the perfect and most important sunset shot of marines running down a hill for his first big time film. Not everything goes according to the plan and the shot gets interrupted by an unusual guest.

The cast qualified to compete for the state championship on April 21 in Springfield at Missouri State University.

“We knew we had to compete knowing that we have a really solid group of seniors,” theatre director Knoedelseder said, “In addition to that, after seeing one of our shows here [principal] Trevor Bonat said, ‘Is there any type of theatre competition? I think you guys are really good.’”

The cast was all also a part the musical “Godspell” and had to fit rehearsals in whatever free time they could find.

“We picked it up pretty fast, even though we didn’t have a lot of rehearsal time,” Cary said. “The last couple minutes before you go out there, when you’re with everyone doing a little pep talk, are kind of nerve wracking but it’s also like the ‘this is it’ moment.”

They will also be performing “Hidden in this Picture” again along with the rest of the theatre department’s student directed one acts on April 27-29.