UIL One Act returns

It’s that time of year again – the cast list is up. Carroll Theatre’s One Act Unchanging Love, is starting production. In March, the thespians will perform at the Texas UIL District Competition.

“This year’s show will be another fun and exciting challenge that all of us – the cast, crew and directors – will overcome,” junior Maddie Louviere said.

The cast rehearses for the months of January, February, and March until the competition. They begin by read-throughs as a group.

“Table work is the key to our rehearsal processes this year,” senior Tyler Jones, lead actor in the play, said. “We all have to put in the most time commitment for this production but it will all pay off if we advance.”

The UIL One Act competition is the largest high school play production festival in the world. About 200 universities faculty members serve as judges for the competition.

“This might be my last one act, but it’s also my first,” senior Isabelle Hahn, who acted in the school musical her freshman year, said. “I’m excited because I get to be part of the theater program again, but it’s also bittersweet because the experience has been so rewarding that I wish I had done it sooner.”

All productions performed in the UIL One Act need to be anywhere between 18 and 40 minutes, and they will be judged by one judge or a panel of three or four judges.

“I’ve never done a One Act with Carroll Theatre before, so I’m looking forward to getting advice and help from both my directors and peers who were a part of this process in previous years,” junior Caroline Garcia said.

There are six different possible levels of competition: zone, district, bi-district, area, region, and state. After each level, a judge will give out acting awards over every different category and then select three teams to advance to the next level up until the Regional Level, where only two plays advance to the state level.

“At first I was confused on how everything worked, but now I’m excited because I know this is the first of many performances,” sophomore Nico Ross said.

This may be co-director Jamie Pringle’s 19th One Act UIL competition, but it is her first at Carroll.

“My role as a director is to have everything ready for the actors and technicians when they get to the first rehearsal,” Pringle said. “As the rehearsal process continues, I will be waiting at the finish line cheering them on.”