On February 27th, 1998, the Drama Club did something they had never done before. They took a play to the 24th annual one-act play competition and workshop held at Mansfield University. The play was "Victoria at 18" by Tim Kelly and featured the following cast:

Lady Constance .........Jenelle Miller
Lady Anne ..............Jenelle Craig
Victoria ...............Kate Kapson
Baroness Lehzen ........Kim Kissell
Duchess of Kent ........Rebecca Socha
Flora ..................Kari Lebo
The Archbishop .........Joel Crowley
Lord Chamberlain .......Patrick Lynn
Duchess of Northumberland.. Amy Irvine

The interesting thing about this experience was that no one at our end had a clue as to what this competition was all about, who would attend, what the drill was...it was a first for the Drama Club. Nor was there a whole lot of time to prepare. Nevertheless, that didn't deter their coach, Julie Larnard, from putting the kids through their paces during the final few rehearsals before the event. The competition had some interesting features:

The plays, including setup, scene changes and strike were limited to only 30 minutes. Any longer, and you were disqualified.
Sets needed to be minimalist and space was restricted. The University was doing a production of "Godspell" that evening so the kids had to work in front of that set.
Each performance was followed by an oral critique from the experts followed by a written critique.
There was a workshop following on various aspects of the Theatre.

So, how did our kids do? For their first time...fantastic. Of the nine awards given, they came home with three. Danielle Rumsey and Amy Irvine, each, received a Special Theatre Award for their participation and performance in various aspects of the workshop and competition, while Katie Kapson, a Junior, earned the "Best Actress" award for her performance as the young Princess Victoria in "Victoria at 18".

Comments from the judges were very positive and complementary. One remarked that once the play started he never thought that "these were just a bunch of high schoolers from Towanda". He had been transported to another time and place. Another said that initially he groaned, "oh, no, a play with accents", but was please to note that overall, the accents were well done with consistency throughout. Finally, one judge observed that the play was extremely challenging for the kids, not only for the accents, but also being a period piece, it required a good deal of study to carry off the mannerisms and thought processes of the time. And they had done it.

All the kids were wonderful and a splendid credit to themselves, their families and the District - both on and off-stage. And what about next year?

Well, now that they know what to expect, watch them fly!