The competitive drama class is state-bound with their one-act production after they outdid themselves at district competition. The show “Dark Road” follows a woman reflecting on her life as a guard to the concentration camp Ravensbrük during the Holocaust. This very dark and jarring production earned the cast and crew second place at Districts at East Central College.
The State competition will be held in Springfield on April 16 and 17, and drama teacher and director Kelli McNeven is working on preparations and expectations.
“State competition is divided into two days,” McNeven said. “So the first day is [the] semifinals, and they’ll [the activities office] get us there and back. Day two is if we make it to finals which I think, from what I can gather, is probably four schools that make it to the final rounds.”
This is the first time since 2008 that the competitive drama one-act has qualified for state. Naturally, this causes some stress for the cast, but also brings excitement. The thespian troupe president, senior Hayden Renaud, has many hopes.
“I’m hoping to put the show in front of more audiences because it’s an important story to tell,” Renaud said.
Dark Road is a very graphic and real story that keeps audiences at the edge of their seat.
“I’m hoping to also see some other good high school theater because when people say high school theater, there’s usually a bad, like a negative, reputation associated…and I don’t think it has to be that way. And I am really excited to hopefully see some other schools with some really good performances” said Renaud.
McNeven and Renaud both believe in telling the story accurately, which is the goal. Qualifying for State in itself is an accomplishment, but McNeven hopes the troupe continues to perform genuinely.
“Placing is great, but it’s really… just such an important story that we wanted to tell it as truthfully as we could and let that kind of be our focus,” McNeven said.
