State’s best One Act teams are ready to descend upon Norfolk

NORFOLK — The Hartington-Newcastle cast and crew have been working hard for over three months now on their One Act play performance Their hard work paid off as they won their District competition last week to advance to this week's Sate One Act competition.

Class D2 and D1 schools performed at State on Wednesday, while Class C1 and C2 schools perform Thursday.

HNS will perform at the Johnny Carson Theatre at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Tryouts for the school's production of 'Epic Proportions' took place in August, with the practice beginning in September.

The production has grown and changed a great deal since the students first started practicing their lines, said Director A.J. Johnson.

'It has evolved a lot since they first started practicing,' he said.

In fact, Johnson said the play continues to evolve, even with the state performance just two days away, Johnson said Tuesday.

'We made changes last night, too,' he said. 'We want to try and be as sharp and as fresh as possible. You get feedback from the judges when you compete and we try to take advantage of that feedaback.'

Lead roles belong to Lainey Morten, Dane Gotch and Issac Santiago.

The story follows brothers Benny and Phil, (Dane Gotch and Issac Santiago) who arrive as extras on a sprawling Biblical epic but quickly find themselves climbing the ranks — one becoming a director, the other a sudden leading man.

As the film spirals out of control under the distant, nearly invisible director D.W. DeWitt (Alyk Zach), the brothers clash over fame, responsibility, and their shared affection for Louise (Lainey Morten), the production assistant struggling to keep the project from falling apart.

With mishaps, rebellions and over-the-top scenes erupting all around them, the characters discover that finding real purpose may mean walking away from their Hollywood dreams.

Johnson said the 60 members of the cast and crew are feeling confident about their chances at State.

'I think they feel good about what we've done, and they want to go down their and show everyone their ready,' he said.