Last week, Bristow Public School’s speech and theatre students competed regionally with one-act play “Amelia, Once More.” They walked away from the northeast regional competi tion in Oologah as class 5A winners.
Jessica Frizzell, Bristow’s Speech/Debate coach, Theatre Arts teacher, and play director, explained how the cast and crew began their journey competing with “Amelia, Once More.” She chose the play for the competi tion before school began, allowing her students the opportunity to be involved in August. No student was required to participate or compete as no class time was devoted to the play. Instead, interested students auditioned and rehearsed outside of school hours. Thus far, Ms. Frizzell estimates spending around 150 hours on the play with her students.
Ms. Frizzell explained what a one-act play is and how time plays a factor in the competition. She stated, “A one-act play is a complete play done in a timeframe that is not allowed to be less than thirty minutes and not to exceed forty-five minutes in length. For competition, you are required to bring all of your sets, actors, costumes, and whatever you need or will use onto the stage and remove all of it from the stage within that time limit. You are not allowed to leave anything on the stage after you are done, or you can be disqualified. A good performance includes the ‘load-in’ to set up and the ‘loadout’ to remove the set as parts of the performance.”
Bristow’s entire production crew for the play consists of four actors, twelve supportive crew members, and three staff members. The four actors are Carly Junod as Shelly/Amelia, Gary Daughtry as Tom/James, Hunter Remington as Alphonse (as well as set construction and lighting design), and Zoey Snelling as Laura. The twelve supportive crew members are Leigha VanOrsdol (stage manager), Xander Stewart (set construction, sound design, stage crew), Gabrielle Wilson (lighting design), Talon Wilbourn (stage crew), Kinley Hilburn (lighting design, spotlight), Macey Corshia (publicity manager, graphic designer, stage crew), Lena Still (props master, stage crew), Maggie Gower (costume, makeup design, stage crew), Brooklyn Evans (costume, makeup design, stage crew), Zak Hall (set construction, stage crew), Ricky Holenbeck (stage crew), and Shelby North (set construction, stage crew). The three staff members are Don Baker (Freeland Center Director, Bristow High School Stagecraft instructor), Dr. Chip Cooper (Freeland Center trustee, carpenter, lighting, set construction), and Jessica Frizzell (director, Speech/Debate coach, Theatre Arts instructor).
Bristow High School senior Hunter Remington, 17, was the only student to fill dual roles as both actor and crew member. Having acted, built sets, and worked with lighting in both school and Freeland Center productions pre viously, he was invited to join the crew and assist with programming the lights and constructing the set. When asked what he most loved about the competitive one-act experience, he chuckled, saying “I, of course, enjoyed winning, the relationships that were built during the show, and the competitiveness. You really can’t get better than a one-act play because it’s a rare time when theatre can be competitive at the school level.” He also described how best the community can support the students as they move forward to the state competition: “Come see the show and encourage people around you to see the show, and support the arts when you can.”
Ms. Frizzell eloquently summed up the experience for her as well, saying “For a small community like Bristow, there seems to be an immense respect and support for the performing arts, as is evident in the construction of the Freeland Center. I have been met with sup port, understanding, and humor as I fumble my way through my first year. I would like to thank Don Baker for being such an excellent wealth of knowledge and putting up with me. I would also like to thank the former drama coach, Wyatt Freeman who instilled a passion in these kids and set the stage (pun intended) for me to keep up the momentum. Senior Hunter Remington has been a huge help on stage and behind the scenes, and Junior Leigh VanOrsdol has been invaluable as my stage manager. I hope, in the future, the community is able to embrace and appreciate many different forms of theatre, produced and performed by all kinds of people.”
The group competes in Choctaw on October 28th for state. Plan to attend and shower them with your support if you are able.