2010FirstPlacePlay

May 8, 2010 Salado High School One Act Play (S.O.A.P.) achieved another first in Eagle history by capturing the UIL One Act Play State Title. From a field of 214 2A schools Salado's entry "The Balkan Women" by Jules Tasca was selected as the best.

Cast: Stetson Gilchrest as Lt. Jovan Vlaco
Heather Williams as Amina Jusic
Bailie Reed as Jela Kaljanao
Jace Barton as Colonel Branislav Herak
Haley Williams as Samira Jusic
Kandace Little as The Vessel Bearer
Female chorus members are Sharla Gilchrest, Cai Hopkins, Rachel Spinks, and Savannah Stanley.
Male chorus members are Sebastian Rocha, Chris Norman, Janson Oyler, Dennis Quesinberry, and Cole Raley.
Crew members include: Lainey Sirois, Nate Tauferner, Jacob Krustchinsky, Cameron Kirchmeier, Ryan Cute, Jessica Ferrell-Raborn, and Brooks Wolff.
Understudies and interns are Tori Sellers, Samantha Yeager, Tanner Pitts, and Jacob Tauferner.

Directors for the show are J. J. Jonas and Kyra Mann, assisted by student director Lainey Sirois and assistant to the student director, Samantha Yeager
Individual awards included:

Samuel French Award (Best Overall Performer): Stetson Gilchrest
Best Actor: Stetson Gilchrest
All Star Cast: Heather Williams, Bailie Reed, Haley Williams
Honorable Mention All Star Cast/Special Ensemble Award to the entire chorus of The Balkan Women: Kandace Little, Savannah Stanley, Sharla Gilchrest, Cai Hopkins, Rachel Spinks, Cole Raley, Dennis Quesinberry, Chris Norman, Sebastian Rocha, and Janson Oyler

Top Technician: Jacob Krustchinsky (selected from the 40 crew members at state finals)

press release from the Theater department:

SOAP cleans up at state

The day started at 4:30 a.m. and ended with a state championship. By midnight Friday night, the members of the Salado One-Act Play team (SOAP) had gold medals around their necks and were declared the Conference 2A One-Act Play state champions for their performance of The Balkan Women, a play by Jules Tasca about a women’s detention camp during the Serbian-Bosnian conflict in the early 1990s.

The accolades did not stop there. The SOAP team cleaned up on individual awards as well.

Senior Stetson Gilchrest won Best Actor as well as the Samuel French Award for outstanding overall performer. “It was something I had dreamed of since becoming involved in high school theatre and first learned about the award. Somewhere between 2000 to 3000 kids in Conference 2A had that same dream and it happened to me. I was truly honored, but I know how much work and desire it took to achieve. It taught me never to limit myself or my aspirations and that hard work and discipline will pay off.”

All-Star Cast winners were Heather Williams (senior), Bailie Reed (junior), and Haley Williams (freshman). "If you would have told me a year ago that I'd work with such an awesome cast, have my sister play my daughter, AND win state... I wouldn't have believed you... but that's what makes this experience so special: it's unbelievable," Heather Williams said.

Williams, a senior planning to major in theatre at Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, has participated in five shows at Salado, winning Best Actress awards in her sophomore and senior year. "There's only one way to go out... and that's with a BANG!" Williams said.

Williams’ sister, Haley, talked about the physical demands of a show that depicted the authentic portrayal of war time violence. “Several of us are athletes, but this play tested our toughness. We learned stage combat techniques and endured hours of strenuous rehearsal, repeating those moves over and over. Even though we used safety gear, it was a challenge to make it look real. My knees hurt. My elbows hurt. Nearly every fiber of my being has been in pain from working so hard. Who knew winning state could hurt so good?”

Ten members of the cast were granted a special ensemble award, a rarely-given honor, for their choral work in the play: Kandace Little, Savannah Stanley, Sharla Gilchrest, Cai Hopkins, Rachel Spinks, Cole Raley, Dennis Quesinberry, Chris Norman, Sebastian Rocha, and Janson Oyler.

Actors were not the only award winners that night. Lighting designer Jacob Krustchinsky (sophomore) received a special award for Best Technician.

A first for Salado High School, director J. J. Jonas said the journey toward a state championship started a year ago when she found a script called The Balkan Women. “I knew it was a good vehicle for our contest play. I presented it to our other director, Kyra Mann, and our students last summer. It was a compelling story combined with a high level of performance difficulty, history, and literary merit.” The play, written by Jules Tasca, was the 1998 Barrymore Prize winner for Best New Play. Its story revolves around a detention camp for women during the Bosnian-Serbian conflict of the early 1990s.

Several members of the team returned from last year’s cast and crew, but others were new to the experience.

“This was my first year to join SOAP. I never in a million years thought that I would be a part of something this exciting. During my entire high school career, I’ve never been involved in an extracurricular activity. Then, Ms. Jonas got me involved with the fall play this year. Jessica (Ferrell-Raborn) and I were selected to design the costumes and properties for the spring one-act play contest. A lot more goes on than what you see on stage. I never imagined what kind of work went into a production. That is the cool thing about theatre—there is a place for everyone. If you’re not an actor, you might be a set builder or a costume designer. You might create the publicity posters, mix the sound or generate special effects. Some students did a music video production to help teach others the background of the story. We had to research and understand history and culture in order to create an authentic background for the play. It was hard work, but I’d do it all again if I had the chance,” senior Brooks Wolff said.

Directors Jonas and Mann remarked on several ingredients that led to the team's success. "This was a diverse cast. We had athletes, National Merit Scholars, cowboys, geeks, cheerleaders, and kids who had never participated in anything else before. They melded into a unified group, putting aside differences and finding a common bond. Unity is a prime ingredient to any team success. We also have the most amazing and supportive administration, school board, parents, faculty, and community who celebrate our efforts in the arts. With that kind of foundation, you can soar."

The play was directed by J. J. Jonas and Kyra Mann. Jonas has appeared at the state OAP contest 5 times (1 in 5A, 4 in 2A); this was Mann’s directorial debut at the state meet. It was the first state championship for both.

“We were extremely blessed this year with talented, motivated, and hard-working students. We were truly a ‘family’ striving for the same goal: to be the best! Apparently, all the hard work paid off. Winning the state championship will be a memory I will cherish forever” said Mann.

When asked how she celebrated her victory, Jonas said, "I hugged my daughter, Dixie Darling, who was there throughout the entire season, helping me analyze each rehearsal, find music, brainstorm, and inspiring me to keep pushing forward. Then, I hugged my former students from other schools, who had made it to state with me in previous years, but never claimed the gold; they came to Austin after all these years to support this cast and crew in their endeavor. That’s what the arts are about. And then, after a good night's sleep Saturday night, I got up and ordered five new scripts to start reading for next year."

Conference 2A had 214 schools competing this year in the UIL OAP contest. Eight schools, including Salado, were in the state finals. Salado’s OAP team was first runner-up in 2001 and appeared as a state finalist in 2006, both under the leadership of former theatre director, Gary Askins.