One Act Play advances to state competition

Jordyn Hodges, Junior Staff Writer • May 3, 2024

After lots of hard work and long days, the Randall One Act Play is headed to state on May 16.

“I knew going into the year this would be hard to advance to State,” theater director Cy Scroggins said. “We graduated 15 seniors from our program last year and in school history, Randall has not advanced to State the year after winning. Our students have worked very hard all year to make this happen.”

Their show is called “The Book of Everything.” It’s about a 9-year-old, Thomas, played by Jarret McDowell, dealing with domestic abuse between his parents. It shows how he overcame his trauma and found happiness among the people around him.

“We did research on 1951 Amsterdam, which is the setting for the show,” Scroggins said. “We also did character research to bring the character to life.”

After performing the show, many students were recognized for their hard work with individual awards.

“I am very proud of how well our students have competed this year,” Scroggins said. “We have had three different students win the top acting award, Best Performer, which is a huge accomplishment. We have also had six students win acting awards which speaks to the strength of our production.”

Junior Jarett McDowell has won All-Star Cast three times and Best Performer at the Bi-District competition on their journey to state.

“It felt good to be recognized for my work this year,” Jarret McDowell said. “But I am more focused on the group goal of winning a State Championship. The only way to win is to have the strongest cast in Texas and no one can do it by themselves.”

This year’s One Act Play group has overcome some challenges that made advancing to State harder than usual.

“This year we are a very young group,” Scroggins said. “We only have two seniors in the one act play this year. One is Bryson Shelton who is our award-winning lighting technician, and Lauren Lichtie is the only senior in the cast. The two of them have done an incredible job at leading this group. Most of the time when we go to state we have several seniors. This is the first year for such a young cast to make State.”

With all the accomplishments and hard work of the students, it’s no surprise that the announcement that Randall would be advancing had everyone excited and proud of themselves and the people around them.

“Whenever they announced that we were moving on, it felt so good to know our hard work was paying off,” McDowell said. “I was very proud of our cast and the hardships that we have overcome this year. Seeing all of the smiles on my castmate’s faces was amazing and they made the work worth it.”

Scroggins is proud of not only his students, but the school as a whole and he loves teaching here at Randall High School.

“My favorite thing about teaching at Randall is the strengths of our programs,” Scroggins said. “I love that we are such a strong school academically and athletically. The students here are driven and dedicated. It’s a great place to be involved!”

There will be a community performance of “The Book of Everything” on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium. It is free entry, and they are accepting donations.

Individual awards at Region:

Honorable Mention All-Star Cast – Dax Betzen and Jazzy Phillips

All-Star Cast – Jarret McDowell

Best Performer – Kai O’Donnell

Area:

Best Lights – Bryson Shelton

Honorable Mention All-Star – Carmen Guajardo

All-Star Cast – Kai O’Donnell, Jarret McDowell and Dax Betzen

Bi-District:

All-Star Crew – Bryson Shelton

Honorable Mention All-Star Cast – Durand Carson and Dax Betzen

All-Star Cast – Kai O’Donnell and Giselle Melendez