For the first time since 2021, the Fremont High School theater department has again faced defeat in district one act.
One act is a competitive play performed by schools all around the state. The schools are divided into six classes: A, B, C-1, C-2, D-1, and D-2.
Each class is then divided into separate districts. Each district competition determines which schools will represent their respective class at the state competition. In order to participate in state, the department has to either make district runner-up or district champion.
The show Fremont did this year, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was about an anti-social scientist who, on accident, creates a madman who possesses his body and goes on a psychotic rampage.
Despite the hard work the department put into the show, like in 2021, other schools had much larger sets and more advanced practical effects. Gretna East, the school that hosted districts, also had, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, but it was a much different story compared to the Fremont version. Gretna East’s version won district champion and went on to perform at state.
“I was a bit disappointed, a bit sad,” set crew member freshman Hunter Shulke said. “A little bit disappointing, but what can you do? There’s always the next three years.”
The crew members redesigned the set multiple times throughout production, each one better, and more visually impressive than the other. However, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, other schools had much larger and more complicated sets than expected.
Fremont won district champion in 2020. This was the first time that Fremont made it to state since 2004, with the show, “The Miracle Worker”, a show about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan.
Then in 2021, for competition one act, Fremont did the show “The Children’s Hour,” a 1930s story about two female teachers accused of being lovers by one of their students. Unfortunately, Fremont was defeated in the district competition and placed sixth out of ninth.
However, in 2022, Fremont again went to state one act with the show, “Dracula”. “Dracula”, based on the book of the same name, helped win Fremont the district champion title. At state, Fremont placed fifth out of sixth place.
In 2023, Fremont went to state once again with their show, “Psycho Beach Party”. This time, Fremont only secured district runner-up. Fremont went on to place fourth out of sixth at state competition.
Even though Fremont saw defeat at districts, this is not the time to give up. Just like in 2021, Fremont persevered and made it to state again twice.
Despite the disappointing outcome, the drama director and many of the students remain optimistic about one act next year
“I thought one-act went well,” Theatre director Chase King said. “I thought that everyone was really flexible. Everyone saw the goal and worked really hard to get towards that goal. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up the way we wanted it to end up. But overall, I thought the kids did an excellent job.”
Many cast members felt that the frequent alterations to the show hindered their ability to fully develop their characters. Junior Davis Jones, who played Richard Enfield, spoke about how this affected their performance.
“I felt like we could have done better if we were able to work on the show consistently instead of changing it every week,” Jones said. “I feel like one of our big drawbacks was we weren’t able to focus on our characters and what they would do in certain scenes because they kept getting changed.”
After the musical, drama students will prepare for spring play, Our Town. Community members interested in FHS drama can purchase tickets for Our Town.
