S.H.S. students have started preparing for their upcoming contest play. Contest play is a 40-minute competitive comedy or drama play where students are allowed to use costumes, props, sound, and lighting unlike Group Interpretation.
This year S.H.S. is putting on the play called “A Tiny Miracle with a Fiberoptic Unicorn.” This play is set in the winter of 1986 where thirteen-year-old Louis vows to kiss the love of his life, the quirky theater queen, before Christmas.
However, the forces of puberty are standing in his way, his vitriolic older sister, his demanding mother, and his eternally amused father. The family is thrown into turmoil and Louis’ world is flipped upside down by the arrival of both his crazy grandmothers.
Auditions for this play were held at the end of January but students won’t start practicing for this play until the start of March. The late start is due to the intensity and timeframe for the winter musical.
Auditions for contest play tend to be more competitive compared to auditions for Musicals because the cast tends to be a lot smaller. This year the cast for “A Tiny Miracle with a Fiberoptic Unicorn” is only nine people. It is also more competitive because in this play students are competing against others.
This year S.H.S. is hosting the IHSA state competition for both group interpretation and contest play. This will include students from many different schools performing their plays that they have worked so hard on.
S.H.S. students will obviously have a home field advantage but will also put more pressure on both the students and coaches.
The leads in this play are sophomore Gavin Fisher and juniors Christina Moore and Cory McGowan. These students are also involved in other areas of theater such as the musical and group interpretation.
However, McGowan says that she is “focusing a lot more on technique with contest play” than with the musical because of how different they are.
Students involved in contest play are very excited to begin practicing and preparing for their play and are hoping to do well in the IHSA Drama and Group Interpretation sectionals and state competition.
