UIL One Act Play is a competition that takes place all across the state of Texas, consisting of performances put on by theatre students, serving as a way to show off their hard work and giving them the opportunity to receive feedback. Brazoswood theatre students put on the show “Of Mice and Men”, with junior Aiden Guillen playing as Curley, senior Horacio Rodriguez, playing George, and senior Cade Ingram, playing Lennie.
“The people in the cast get so close,” Guillen said. “I remember finishing the show and everyone hugging and high-fiving each other.”
Due to how slim the timeframe is to create a performance worthy of showing off, participating actors are bound to feel stress while perfecting their work.
“The most challenging thing was how stressful the competition was, our tension within the group was so high, but we ended up delivering a stellar performance anyway,” Guillen said.
Despite the stress and uneasiness that comes with performances, actors find solace in the feelings, as it shows that their hard work is worth it, especially when the crowd enjoys the show.
”The actual competition day was my favorite,” Rodriguez said. “The nerves and suspense of it all. To hear the crowd laugh and gasp and interact with the show was something unforgettable.”
To help add to the authenticity of a performance, actors must connect with each other through their characters, which may be difficult at first, but overcoming those difficulties can be relatively easy with the right mindset.
“The most difficult part was feeling that fictional connection with Cade as Lennie,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like it didn’t click up until that first moment in front of the audience, but when it did, it felt like we were those characters, not just actors.”
While forming connections with the other characters in a show is an extremely important part of performing, connecting with one’s own character is undoubtedly crucial to make an authentic performance.
“I feel like my performance clicked at comp,” Ingram said. “I played Lennie, he’s special needs and as an actor, you have to be able to show that on stage, which was challenging, but when I stepped on stage everything just clicked.”
After a long, stressful, and downright grueling performance, actors were given relief during the awards ceremony, finally receiving praise for their hard work.
“The most gratifying part of the competition overall was hearing the reactions because of the connections we were able to have with each other, this helped the audience connect to us as well,” Ingram said. “This connection also allowed me to win best male actor in the district, which was pretty cool.”
