JAY — A public performance of the play that Spruce Mountain High School students won first place for in the Class B One Acts competition will be held 7 p.m. March 20 at the school.

Regional School Unit 73 student representative Avery Ryder made the announcement during the March 14 board meeting. “Our group got an award for comedic timing and individual awards were given to Gabby Smith, Ricky Bowen and Avery Ryder,” she said. “Plus a trio award was given to Natalie Baker, Olivia Mancine and Megan Craig.”

Admission to the special performance is by donation.

The Livermore Falls Advertiser reached out to drama advisor Kymberly Bryant and the students who won awards for additional information.

At the competition a one act play titled Every Novel You Read in High School [In 25 minutes or less] by Ian McWethy was performed, Bryant said in an email Friday evening. The group has been working on it since the middle of January, she noted.

“Students had decided they would like to do a comedy,” Bryant wrote. “I chose a few that I thought would be competition worthy and good for our group based on the numbers of actors that we had. I offered them a choice of two with this one being my preference and they wholeheartedly agreed after reading through the play.”

When asked about the comedic timing award, Bryant responded, “Comedies are especially difficult to present in competitions because it is very hard to get the comedic timing down so that the action and jokes are quick and can build upon one another but not so quick that the audience can’t keep up with them.

Pausing for laughter and applause is a difficult task to practice without an audience, but was something we talked about and tried as much as we could. The rhythm of this show is very fast [as it is supposed to be a timed performance in the actual play] but students need to be clear and not appear too hurried. The fact that they mastered this is a major accomplishment.”

Asked about the students who won awards, Bryant wrote, “There were so many great performances in this show, but the students who were presented awards by the judges received them because they didn’t hold back on the stage. They totally embraced their parts and performed them without reservations.”

Bryant said very minimal concessions – popcorn and cotton candy would be for sale Wednesday evening. “There is no admission to see the play, but we would welcome donations to help pay for our overnight trip [for the state competition],” she wrote.

The state festival is open to the public and is being held at Stearns High School in Millinocket, Bryant noted. “The cost is somewhere around $10 – $12 per person per session,” she wrote. “Our session on Saturday starts at 1 p.m. and we will be the closing performance at 4 p.m.”

“I portrayed multiple characters,” Bowen wrote Saturday. “Rodger from The Scarlet Letter, Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird [my personal favorite], Hamlet form Hamlet [because what else would Hamlet be from], and Tom from The Grapes of Wrath.”

Smith portrayed Jack, Moby Dick, family member, and person. “I wanted to play the role of Jack because he is a very energetic character, so I felt like I could relate to this character,” she wrote Sunday.

Monday morning Ryder wrote she was Principle Burke “who is extremely sassy. She hired a group of actors to perform every book the students will read over the summer so they can do better on testing.”

Ryder likes drama because of how much fun they have together. “Since doing drama I’ve made a lot of new friends that I hang out with outside of school,” she noted.

Bowen didn’t choose any of the characters, but  said he was definitely happy with them. “My favorite thing about drama is meeting other people,” he noted. “I got to meet a lot of people who I don’t have any classes with that I probably wouldn’t have met in any other situation. The students I did have classes with I got to learn more about.”

At the competition Bowen said he got to meet students from other schools which was nice. “I want to be an author when I grow up and for practice I’ve been writing unpublished stories recently,” he wrote. “I think being able to play characters has made it easier for me to write characters, which someday will make my life a lot easier when writing is my job.”

“I connected with different groups and people that I would have never interacted with otherwise,” Smith noted. “I communicate better, and I express myself and my feelings in constructive ways,” she wrote about participating in drama.

A lot of people said his award for comedic timing was very fitting, Bowen said. “That’s something I try to be good at in real life,” he wrote. “I think having good timing, makes every joke better. So I’m happy I was able to incorporate that into my characters.”

Getting an award was special for Bowen as “for a while I didn’t really try at auditions because I just assumed nobody would think I was good at acting. This was only the second audition where i can confidently say i tried my best, so the fact that it paid off and people liked my performance means a lot.”

Smith shared, “Winning this award as a freshman and overall meant a great deal to me and gives me more confidence for me to be able to do my roles. I would like to thank Ms. Bryant, Ms. Waceken, and the cast and stage crew for making this a great experience.”

Ryder wrote, “I was given an all cast award which means a lot to me because I get very nervous and don’t always think I did a great job performing. This award really proved to me that I can be more confident in my aching skills.”

“We have had such great feedback for this show,” Bryant wrote. “Even people who don’t normally like theater have said that they enjoyed this performance. It is 100% fun and energy! Great for all ages.”

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