On Friday, April 21, 3A Region schools competed for State Theatre. “It went pretty good,” said Carissa Luna-Trujillo, junior. “We did make them cry and made a huge impact on them.” in their One Act performance. “We were on cloud 9. That’s a rare thing. We felt very accomplished knowing that we did that.” said Coulter Thomsen. 

For the One Act performance, they took 6th place out of 12 with the One Act entitled “The Other Room” by Adriane Blayde. It’s about a brilliant teen, Austin, who has autism and meets Lily who is very popular. Lily is there for her boyfriend’s backpack but finds a common interest in astronomy with Austin. Half of the stage is the real world of what is happening in the story and the other half is the “other room” that represents Austin’s mind consisting of the characters Donovan, Nick, and Talbott. Throughout the act, there are moments of connection and humor but it all ends with Lily’s boyfriend, Travis, yelling at Austin for an accident, leaving Austin alone once again. “I think that’s what hit them the most,” said Thomsen. 

“The part that made the judges cry is that it was relatable to their relatives in their family, and also the piece is just overall impacting and leaves you with the feeling of emotion. One of the judges has complimented us on representing autism well and not overdoing it.” Luna- Trujillo said. “. . . Overall the judges said we made an impact and changed someone’s life.”

“I was so proud of my cast. I directed the show, and I was absolutely shocked it made that big of an impact,” said Rylee Dalton, senior, president. Other successes of the theatre department were Riley Dalton, winning 5th place out of 46 in Dramatic Monologue, and Aubrey Ewer, junior, placing 10th out of 43 in the comedic monologue. Ewer said “Once I found out that I got top 10 in comedic monologue I felt so fulfilled. I have been doing theatre for so long and the growth I’ve made is showing.”