TEXARKANA, Texas - Students and staff at Pleasant Grove High School gathered Tuesday morning to send off its theater company as it left to head to the state One Act Play competition in Schertz, near San Antonio.
Under Theater Arts Director Debby Sutton, the students will perform "The Voice of the Prairie" by John Olive in front of judges at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Out of an original 188 schools in the division, PG High and seven others remain to form the Elite Eight that will compete this week. This is PG High's fifth OAP appearance and its first since 2016.
Sutton said her company has learned from the criticism from judges at each contest, using it to improve each performance.
"It is an absolute honor to get to represent Pleasant Grove High School in anything we do," Sutton said. "But to be able to do it on the stage at the state One Act Play meet is just fantastic. The kids have worked so hard and overcome so many obstacles in the run of this show."
She said this year has been one filled with challenges and turmoil because of the pandemic. Some students and staff members have even lost family members. But through it all, her students have stayed motivated.
"They've supported their teammates," Sutton said. "They've put their arms around each other when they needed it. They've cheered, and they've cried. They have just been amazing people to each other. And that's been the coolest part, to watch the growth and development of our young adults."
They also draw motivation from last year's seniors who never got a chance to compete in the OAP after winning their district.
In March of last year, as they were getting ready to go to bi-district, Sutton said they got the call that they had to stay home.
"Those seniors that graduated last year, I brought them in in May, and they got to say their goodbyes. It was heart-wrenching because they had done so much work, and didn't get to see it come to fruition," she said. "So, this group came in this year and said 'We're going to do it for last year's seniors.'"
The company will have four performances on Wednesday and four on Thursday, before finding out the results on Thursday night.
"We have a motto that is the last thing we say before we go on the stage. It's, 'Do what you know how to do.'" Sutton said. "We work very hard on our show, we craft our show and we control our 39 minutes and 50 seconds of our production time. And they are controlling that beautifully. The show is absolutely gorgeous. The best thing I can say about it is that I'm still entertained by it.
"If we go down to San Antonio, and we control our 39:50 and put it in the judges' hands, then the sky is the limit for us," she said.