Central claims One Act Region 2D championship

After the One Act Team from Central High School earned the Mountain 7 District Title  earlier in April, their team was poised to advance to Regions. It’s no secret that Southwest Virginia is home to many talented students who participate in the performing arts, and it always makes the Regional championship round very competitive.

Although teams normally compete in the Fall, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed One Act until Spring this year.  As the school year winds down, these students have had to balance SOL prep, prom, Forensics, and other sports with One Act. “It’s been a crazy year,” Veteran Coach Jan Thompson admitted to her team, “But we have pulled together and made it work.”

In their production of “When She Had Wings,” Central students tell the story of 9 year old “B” - short for Beatrix (played by Maria Boggs) who is facing many challenges in her young life. As the story develops, she encounters a strange figure (played by Emma Stallard) in her backyard treehouse that she eventually comes to believe is her childhood hero, the missing pilot Amelia Earhart. From the opening moments of the show until the lights come down at the very end, Caleb Adams plays an original score that he composed on the keyboard. His music helps to set the stage for each scene and weaves the fabric of the story together beautifully.

Prior to their performance, which would have to be recorded on video to meet the VHSL guidelines for social distancing, Senior Maria Boggs spoke to all of her fellow performers, including many younger students who were competing for their first time. “Don’t just do this for those of us who are Seniors. You are part of a legacy that you will carry on when we are gone. You should be proud of yourselves.”

Once the team had completed their recording of the show on Friday, April 21 and students had already headed home, they got surprising news from their Coach. Technical difficulties with the recording would require the team to come back to film a second time. After expending all their focus and energy on the first recording and thinking they were already done, how would this unexpected turn of events impact these students?

When the team met on Thursday April 29 to learn the results, Coach Thompson only had good news for the Warriors. Maria Boggs and Draak Sutphin had both won outstanding acting awards and all four judges had ranked Central first. On the strength of these scores, they claimed the Region 2D title and earned the right to compete for the state championship this week. Marion High School finished second.   

Referring to the fact that the team had to return to film a second time, Coach Thompson assured her team. “This made the difference. You wouldn’t be sitting here today if we hadn’t all committed to be our best.”

The team has met this week to rehearse and record their final run. It will be submitted for judging this weekend as the Warriors compete against the best schools from all over the State. Good luck to the Warriors in the VHSL Division 2 sate championship round!

Provided by Brandon White