Lennox High School to host Region 2A One Act Play competition

Lennox High School will take center stage for South Dakota high school theater next week as it hosts the Region 2A One Act Play competition, an honor that drama director Christi Sayler says is both exciting and meaningful for the program.

“This year I am the region coordinator, and last year I asked the other schools if they would mind if we hosted in our new facility,” Sayler said. “They were all very excited about it, and I’m hoping we can become the regular location for our region to have its competition.”

The Region 2A competition will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27 and is open to the public. Lennox will perform at 11 a.m. Sayler noted that once doors are closed prior to a performance, they cannot be reopened to admit latecomers, so audience members are encouraged to arrive early. A lunch break is scheduled at noon, with the remaining two performances beginning at 1:15 p.m. Awards are expected to be presented at approximately 3:15 p.m.

This year, Lennox will perform Miss Matched, a comedy by Sean Cercone, published by Dramallama. The production marks a change of pace for the program after several years of dramas.

“It’s a big difference from the dramas we have done over the last three years, but we are having a lot of fun with it,” Sayler said.

The story takes place in an abandoned greenhouse behind Everwood Academy, where Piper launches her matchmaking service, “Miss Matched,” in an attempt to “solve love at Everwood” before the school dance. With help from her companion Calvin and an algorithm she created, Piper sets out to find students their perfect match—though, as Sayler hinted, things do not go according to plan and the show delivers a surprise ending.

Sayler said choosing the play was a deliberate decision based on her students and their needs.

“I knew I wanted to do a comedy this year, as the current group of drama students haven’t had much opportunity for comedy,” she explained. “I struggled to find one with a large enough cast that I liked and trying to read scripts in the middle of Suessical  was a struggle.  Then I got an ad from a new publishing company Dramallama and decided to look into them and found this script almost immediately.  It had all the roles I wanted and some great one liners that made me giggle.”

Preparation for the competition has been focused and hands-on. Sayler said one-act season allows her to spend more time teaching the craft of acting.

“I love the one act rehearsal schedule because the show is shorter and it allows me to really work on teaching acting,” said Sayler. “During the musical, there are so many elements, especially this year, that I just didn’t feel like I got to teach as much.  We rehearse for about 1.5 hours a day most after school and usually start with a warm up game designed to help us work on acting, stage presence, or teamwork.  Then we run the show.  Early on, I would stop and correct or change things as we went along but we are at the stage now where I give notes at the end to just tweak some things.”

To qualify for the State One Act Play Festival, Lennox must place first or second at regions. While Region 2A features only four schools this year, Sayler said the competition will be anything but easy.

“Our region is tough,” she said. “Any one of the four schools could be in the top two, so we’ll need to bring our A game and perform to the very best of our ability.”

The State One Act Play competition will be held Feb. 5–7 at Brandon Valley.

The Miss Matched cast includes the following students: 

Toby – Leo Aesoph

Felix – Evan Atkins

Derek – Isaak Booker

Natalie – Liz Hanisch

Tyler – James Hermanson

Sophia – Emersen Lee

Mia – Karissa Iken

Lyle – Karson Iken

Gavin – Duncan Johnson

Kendra – Olivia Johnson

Aaron – Noah Oien

DJ Spinsanity – Madix Oltmanns

Cassie – Ariana Poppens

Calvin – Isaiah Sayler

Becca – Isabelle Smith

Daisy Lou – Maddigan Van Sickle

Piper – Miriam Welch

Stage Manager: Andie Brende

Crew: Lucy Carlson, Lincoln Allie, Kaydence Gerry, Natalie Aesoph

Lights: Jacob Carlson

Spotlights: Sophia Wood, Harper Lee

Sound: Chase Hazuka