The Carolina Forest High School Drama Department recently was invited to the 76th Annual Southeastern Theatre Conference lasting from March 19 through the 22 in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the strongest and broadest network of theatre practitioners in the United States.
Our students performed “Failure: A Love Story,” a mystical, musical fable where, in the end, the power of love is far greater than any individual’s successes or failures. The following students participated in the competition: Ireland Bridgeman, Morgan Buckley, Abigail Cooper, Justin Cox, Jasmine Green, Virginia Gunnell, Charles Hawkins, Rachel Hitt, Riley Hinz, Noah Jeffords, Marley Pelton, Andrew Thews, Christina Wiles, and Sierra Wilson.
Dr. Matt Ward, Fine Arts Department Chair and the Director of the CFHS Competition Drama Team, shared that in order to qualify for the SETC they had to win at the state event, South Carolina Theatre Association. The South Carolina Theatre Association was held at Claflin University this year in November.
“I usually read a lot of scripts in the summer before coming back to school and then try to pick a script sometime during the first few weeks of school. This year was a little different because we were doing it during class time. I chose a couple scripts that I liked and then as a class we read them. Choosing this script was a class effort, and we really enjoyed working on it,” shared Dr. Ward.
To the students who picked out the show, this one act really stood out to them because of the humor and how much creative freedom they had to make the show their own.
Many of the students who went on the trip were not only proud of their own performance but were also blown away by many of the other schools that competed .
Wilson shared, “One highlight of the trip was definitely watching other schools’ shows. It was so cool to see what other schools came up with and to hype up other schools for their amazing work. All of the shows were so interesting and unique. It definitely changed my view of plays and theater.”
The Southeastern Theatre Conference was an eye-opening experience for the CFHS Drama Department. They made many memories and were awarded one of the top ten performances. It will be exciting to see what they accomplish next year.
