Locking down a spot
The CFHS one-act cast hopes to advance through this weekend’s subsection contest with their play, Lockdown
Josie Ramler, one of the actresses, performs her lines while James Watson reflects.
The Cannon Falls Theatre Department is ready for its winter production, Lockdown by Douglas Craven. Directed by Cannon Falls Graduate Meghan Breithaupt, the One-Act cast is ready to perform. The play takes places in Deerborne, Canada in the early 21st century. The school Deerborne High is under lockdown from a potential intruder in the school, unknown to the students if this is a drill, or reality.
Since November the group of actors and actresses have been working late nights in preparation for the Sub Section One-Act tournament happening on January 28th in Triton. “I feel the kids are ready,” says Breithaupt. “They’ve put a lot of work into it and I am just as scared as they are right now but confident.” A One Act is a competition for acting, where the cast is judged by three judges on their performance, set and presentation. The crew has ten minutes to set up their stage, thirty to perform and another ten to tear down their set. Going over time in any of these areas results in disqualification.
On Saturday 21st, the One Act team competed at Triton’s HVL tournament where actress Rachel Hartman received all conference for her role as the teacher, Mrs. Karsh. “It was so exciting,” exclaims Hartman, “I had been working so hard on my character the past few months that it was amazing to know that others could see that.” The cast will have a community night performance for anyone interested in the production on January 27th at 7:45 in the .
After the One Act group performs at Subsections, they will wait in anticipation to see if they have moved on to Sections which would take place February 4th. To progress, the team would have to take first or second in Subsections and will have to take first at Sections to go all the way to State, a goal many of the actors and actresses dream of. “I think it would be exciting and groundbreaking if we made it to State,” says One Act captain Benjamin Siebenaller. “Especially since Cannon Falls has never made it to State for One Act before so that would be amazing with all the work we have put into it.” The tournament will be tough but with support, hard work, and a little theatre magic, the One Act will be ready to lock down the competition.
