Columbus High School Wins One-Act Region Competition

By: Jacob Sanford

On Tuesday, October 14, Columbus High School’s theatre department won first place at the GHSA One-Act 1-AA region competition at Carver High School.

Every year, Columbus High School participates in the GHSA One Act competition, a competition where schools are allotted 55 minutes to move their entire show onto the stage, perform the whole show, and take their entire show off of the stage.

This year, Columbus High School performed the first act of the 1953 four-act play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

“I chose The Crucible for this year’s One-Act because I knew that we had a very strong dramatic cast, and I knew that we would excel in a more realistic style of theatre this year . . . I also think that the Crucible was a really great way to tie in our current Language Arts curriculum . . . and I also think that The Crucible is never not relevant politically…” said Columbus High’s theatrical director, Ms. Jessica Stephens.

After a long day of Columbus High students performing their own show and watching six other schools in the region perform theirs, the judges came back from their deliberation at around 6:15 p.m. This is when they announced several awards, including the top four winners of the night. Columbus High School was awarded first place.

In response to winning the region competition, Ms. Stephens said, “I’m excited to go [to state] and to see all of the really good shows . . . As long as we do our best, I don’t care what we place, but I would love to be in the top four.”

This is Ms. Stephens’s third time directing the One-Act at Columbus High and her second time winning region competition after last year’s region-winning show, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Along with the 1st place award, Columbus High School was also given several other awards, including Best Costumes, Best Actress, and Best Actor.

Costumes Crew Head Julian Peeler (12) went on stage to accept the Best Costumes award. When asked about the experience, Julian said, “It was an amazing and thrilling

experience to receive the validation and recognition for the weeks of hard work my crew and I put into the costumes.”

The award for Best Actress was given to Laney Flournoy (12), who played the character of Abigail Williams. When asked how she felt, Laney said, “It’s very rewarding since I’ve dedicated my four years to this program. I’m proud I was able to give a performance that took home another award!”

The award for Best Actor was given to Percy Ritchie (12), who played the character of Reverend Parris. When asked how he felt, Percy said, “ . . . I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be given such a big award, especially not in my first one-act as an actor.”

Columbus High School will be moving on to the AA One-Act state competition at Veterans High School in Warner Robins, GA, on Saturday, November 15.