They say art is in the eye of the beholder. A group of young actors in St. James are putting that adage to the test.
St. James High School’s One Act Play group took second place at the Sub Section competition last Saturday at Maple River; (St. Peter finished in first.) Both school’s groups will be competing this Saturday in Sectional competition at Le Sueur.
The high schoolers’ play is called “Man, Woman, Flowers” and it is about art, perception, and interpretation. The setting is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A picture frame is on display and two by two, couples come up to the piece to give their thoughts. The couples come from different backgrounds, with varying ages and, accordingly, different attitudes.
This is a comedy with plenty of different, fun characters and situations. One couple is on the verge of divorce, another is a young couple in love, another pair is “backwoodsie.” The play takes some pretty wild directions all along the way.
“It’s a play on words,” says cast member Caitlin Olson. “(The scenes) have similar words but it’s how you express them.”
“It’s a play about everyone’s interpretation of the piece,” says castmember Tory Clark. “The joke is that the picture frame is actually blank.”
Getting to the Sectional round of competition is a huge accomplishment in itself, but this acting group has overcome sickness, missed practice days, and -- this Saturday -- an ill-timed ACT test scheduled just for the opportunity to compete.
Our practice time “varies because there were so many late starts and so many days off that we didn’t get as many hours in as we should have,” says Clark. For that alone, “it’s kind of a miracle in itself that we’re moving on.” More information in the Feb. 4 Plaindealer
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