So you want to get away from your troubles, do you? Well, twenty students on the One-Act Play team this year attempted to. For their 2022-2023 show, they performed “Baggage” by Christian Kiley—a dramedy that brings people’s weaknesses and insecurities to the surface. At the end of November, auditions were held; twenty people got cast—from eight actors to understudies to crew members. Every day after school, they practiced for two hours memorizing their lines, working on characterization, building the set, searching for costumes, and dedicating themselves to contributing to this performance.

On the first Saturday of January, their weekends of competition commenced when they went to Workshape at Rushford-Peterson. There, cast and crew members were able to take classes from professionals, watch other schools’ shows, and make friends! Although awards didn’t occur at Workshape, critique was still given by judges to enhance each show. 

Then, on January 14th, the team traveled to Wabasha for their Conference meet, where they competed against 8 other teams and placed 3rd. At this performance, each team went on, so this performance—though maybe less pressure—gave them something to work towards in order to advance the next weekend. Sub-sections weekend came next where they traveled to Lourdes in Rochester. There, they competed against various other teams; they placed second.

Finally, the section meet happened on February 4th where 8 talented teams gathered to share their most refined shows. Each year, the competition at the section meet is tough, but it’s also such a nice moment of appreciation for every school’s production. Though the One-Act team didn’t get to advance beyond sections, each of them were grateful for the opportunity to perform this show one last time, and for the seniors, this day was difficult, as it signified the ending of another high school activity.