One of the most-rewarded UIL events at the school in our little town is the One-Act Play (OAP).  Unfortunately, it’s also one of the least recognized UIL events where sports is king (and queen) in Podunk, Texas…and those of us who have children who participate in OAP are pretty darned glad they have been able to keep OAP when nearly all of the other fine arts have been eliminated due to budget cuts.  We had a winning band a few years back, where 16 band members played their hearts out at a contest and brought home the ‘top dog’ trophy for their hard-earned efforts.  But alas, band is not a sport (not even the marching band) so it was really easy for the school board to dump it.  Our children now have theater, choir (that has only three junior high students in it) and art as their only fine art electives.  This is a huge rant in our household…so, I will reign myself in and get on with the reason for this blog post – our creative actress!

Our oldest daughter was involved in OAP for three years – and loved every single minute of it.  She earned her first award in her senior year and could not have been more excited!  And we were very excited for her!

And now, we get to our second child/daughter…who earned awards at every single OAP festival and/or contest the OAP company participated in last year; even though she was not the main character in the play.  Amazing actress!  This year, the OAP performed “Blythe Spirit” and although the company put on an amazing play, it did not advance to the next competition level.

DD#2 played the role of Madam Arcarti, the eccentric medium and clairvoyant.  And if there was ever a role for this girl to play, this one had her name written all over it!  Here are a couple of photos of her from their dress rehearsal:

And even though they did not advance past Zone, she also earned a precious medal – All Star Cast at the Zone competition:

The challenge now is up to the director who is already pouring over scripts in hopes of choosing another winner for next year!