Latexo OAP Advances to Regionals
By Kelly Nicol
Messenger Publisher
LATEXO – This past week, Latexo’s One-Act Play cast and crew won the Bi-District Championship.
In her second year as One-Act Play Director, Lisa Moreland (a teacher at Latexo Independent School District) looks to improve on last year’s regional performance. She said she has assembled a great cast that fits the play they chose.
When asked how they went about picking their play, Moreland said, “In searching for our play, we wanted to find something that was not over done and we kept coming back to that those comedic elements that we were looking for in a really great dramatic storyline.”
They chose the play “The Tin Women.” It is a story about a woman (Joy, who is played by Isabelle Yorgenson) that receives an unexpected heart transplant and has a strong urge to contact the family of the donor.
Although the play is obviously about a dramatic circumstance, there was definitely comedic relief provided throughout especially from actress Rowdy Stokes who played the role of Sammy Borden (sister of the donor).
In her second performance of her life, Stokes nailed it. She was awarded the honor of “Top Performer.”
When asked how she felt leading up to her name being called, she said, “I was really nervous, they kept calling names and mine wasn’t being called. I thought I wasn’t going to get anything.”
Then they called her name as ‘Top Performer’ (the highest award you can receive).
“I couldn’t hardly get off the stage before I burst into tears,” Stokes said as the entire cast reinforced how proud they were of Rowdy.
Mohammed Asad (who played the role of Hank Borden, father of the donor) explained the process of giving out the awards.
“It starts from the bottom and goes up. Since your name isn’t getting called, you think, “oh, man, I have a shot at Top Performer,” then you get All-Star cast and then you try to figure out who’s gonna be the
top performer,” Asad said. “Luckily, for us, it was very deserving. It was our own Rowdy Stokes. I just wanted to say for the record one more time that it was her second performance ever and she got top performer and that’s something that I don’t think has ever been done.”
The Latexo One Act Play cast did an outstanding job bringing home first place and receiving many awards including:
• Top Performer – Rowdy Stokes
• All Star Cast – Mohammed Asad, Isabelle Yorgenson, Isabelle Cockrell
• All Star Crew – Amelia Winicki, who achieved an almost impossible task by receiving the top crew award as stage manager and sound coordinator. She did this all on their competitors home stage where they practice every day.
When asked about the win over their friendly rivals on their home stage, Asad said, “It’s a really, really nice victory to have. We just know they have such a great tradition and facility. We’ll see them in the area round, regional and hopefully, the state level.” Yorgensen added, “It’s kind of like a coach and sports. A coach can ruin everything for you but, Miss Moreland gave us a better perspective. She came and she helped us love what we do. It’s our ‘sports’ and that’s what I have to say about it.”
The Messenger wishes Latexo One Act Play good luck as they continue their journey to State in Corsicana on April 13 where they will once again perform “The Tin Women.”
