Every year the theatre department competes in the UIL OAP (one act play). Both Black Box (the Junior Varsity) and mainstage (Varsity) theatre classes compete. This year Mainstage is doing Shakespeare in Love based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, and adapted for the stage by Lee Hall. Black box is doing Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale.
The Black Box’s one act isn’t technically a UIL, but they go to compete within the zone and that’s where it ends, and they treat it as if it was. The show is called Blue Stockings, and it’s about the students at an all women university petitioning for the right to graduate like their male classmates.
“The one act is very different from other performances that we do because there are these restrictions put on us because it’s UIL like the timing and things that need to be approved,” said Jacob Watson (11), who plays Christopher Marlowe.
Shakespeare in Love is about William Shakespeare (Owen Nunn) as he tries to put on Romeo and Juliet but falls in love with Viola De Lesseps (Kimberly Irby) who happens to be dressing in drag to play the male part of Romeo.
The show had many intricate parts that just worked so well together. One of these parts was the humor, with the audience laughing for all the jokes in the comedy. The costumes were another part of the play that was extraordinary, with them looking like they were plucked from the 16th century.
“My favorite scene definitely has to be this one scene where Viola and Peter don’t have a passionate enough kiss so Shaksepeare shows them what the kiss should look like and proceeds to have a full on make out scene with my character, Peter, and then Viola before he even realizes Romeo is being played by her,” Casey Sands (11) said.
The One Act Play has six different levels: Zone, District, Bi-Distrct, Area, Region, and State. In each level theatre departments put on 18-40 minute shows and if it lies outside of those times then they are disqualified. Once a department goes past the time limit the lights turn black signalling that the production’s time is over.
All UIL performances are public for the people to see, and the next UIL competition is in Waco on Apr. 12 and Blue Stockings will be on Apr. 17th.