History repeated itself recently for Darlington School’s drama program and for drama instructor Marisa Ortega and Thatcher Chair of English David Powell. The School recently won first place in the Region 6AA One Act Play Competition based on its abridged performance of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. Senior Brittany Pittman earned Best Actress in the competition for her portrayal as Amanda Wingfield. Brandon Goodman played Tom Wingfield. The last time that Darlington won the One Act Play Competition was 18 years ago when Ortega was a senior at the School and Powell directed the winning show, Stage Directions.
Darlington competed against Adairsville, Chattooga, Armuchee, Rockmart, Coosa, Calhoun, and Dade County schools at the Cedartown Civic Auditorium on Oct. 29. Each school was allotted 55 minutes for setup, play, and strike time. “The running time of our original production during Parents Weekend in October was over two hours, so obviously we trimmed the text to the bone, and our cast and crew handled the week of cuts like professionals,” Ortega, who directed the play, said. “An additional challenge with the show was that the roles of Laura Wingfield and Jim O’Connor changed between our Parents Weekend performance and the regional competition. With roughly two weeks of rehearsal, Katie Tumlin and Andrew Gay, both juniors, brought Laura and Jim to life brilliantly.”
Even after cuts, the show’s running time still hovered between 46 and 50 minutes, giving the crew only five minutes to put up the set and take it down. “Attention must be given to our incredible crew because this show required a total team effort,” Ortega said. Crew members were Elyse Moody, Padrick Dennis, Meredith Hom, Ryan Randles, Jay McDavid, and Kyndall McKemie.
Also crucial to the play’s success were Jay McDavid, freshman, who ran the sound board, and Brian Inman, history instructor, who ran the lights. Even the School’s musical theater class got in the act at the regional competition by helping to clear the set with one minute to spare.
The cast and crew competed in the state competition on Nov. 9, in Cumming, Ga., and received fifth place.
