The Act of One Act

Even with a smaller play, the talent is formidable in this theatrical competition

February 11, 2018

On Saturday, February 3rd, New Ulm Public High School hosted the regional One Act Section competition. This was the one chance for our section One-Act teams to make it to the state One Act competition, which took place February 7 – February 10. Some of the noteworthy teams that competed were New Prague, Orono, and Minnetonka, among others. Only one of these teams was able to leave with a chance to compete at the State One Act competition.

What is One Act? Sheldon Rieke, the director of New Ulm High School’s One Act program, states: “One Act is a high school league/activity for theater to give students a chance to perform theater, see schools from around the state, and compete.” It isn’t easy though; the competition is tough, and there are a variety of rules to make sure that all the productions aren’t too mature for kids, and that they can all be performed in the allotted amount of time.

There are a number of rules that limit how large the production can be. For example, each team has ten minutes to place the set (chairs, tables, walls, floors, etc) onto the stage;  the performance cannot exceed 35 minutes in length, and five minutes are allotted to take the set down after the performance is over –  and the set must fit within a ten foot by ten foot box.

Owen WIlkins
The 10ftx10ft box that the one act sets must fit in.

There are other rules, such as no excessive profanity and no gun props, but the number of these specific rules is so large that not many of the people directing the One Act teams even know them all.

New Ulm did not qualify for this competition, as they did not place in the top 3 at the qualifier, held in New Prague, MN on January 27th, 2018.

When asked what it is like performing theater at a competition, Nick Schultz, a theater veteran currently on his fourth and final year of his One Act career here at New Ulm High School, said: “Usually when I perform at school, I don’t really get any stage fright any more, but at competition I feel a bit more pressure.”

The team that walked away with their opportunity to show themselves at the State competition was Minnetonka with their production of  Master Class.

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