Actors in the Jamestown High School Theater Department took first place in their conference and Lafayette High actors took second in theirs in this year’s statewide One-Act Play Festival.
In November, WYDaily reported the Jamestown and Lafayette theater departments were headed to the Virginia High School League’s (VHSL) annual One-Act Play Festival. Both schools have fared well in past state competitions and this year was no different with Jamestown coming in first in the 4A conference and Lafayette placing second in 3A.
Jamestown’s theater director, Marcia DiMattia, said her team nailed the performance and she “couldn’t have asked for better.”
“I was thrilled,” DiMattia said. “When they were finished, I said to myself, ‘They couldn’t have done any better. So, whatever happens – I’m happy.’”
Suzan McCorry, Lafayette’s theater director, said her team also performed very well under adverse circumstances. One of her lead actors, Dylan Marcuson, had been out-of-pocket in surgery, and his mother drove him to the competition while he was still on pain medication. Marcuson hadn’t rehearsed in two and a half weeks but, despite the setback, McCory said he pulled out a star performance.
“I was very pleased,” McCory said. “He did a really good job. It was a very tight competition and we were just a couple points off.”
In the VHSL theatre competition, each judge gives points to a performance on a scale of one to 100. In addition, judges rank each team on how they think the teams should place.
Lafayette came in ranked at second with 286 points, four points under the first place Broadway High School. Jamestown came in ranked first with 290 points – eight points higher than second place Glen Allen High School.
Four Best Actor awards are handed out within each conference. Kris McKeever and MaryKathryn Kopp of Jamestown High both received best actor awards and Isaac Skeeter of Lafayette also received the honor.
At the state competition, Lafayette performed “The Diviners,” a Great Depression-era piece. Jamestown performed “Competition Piece,” a comedic parody of the One Act Play Festival.
