BVHS one-act shines bright on State Festival stage
Photo courtesy of SDPB
Brandon Valley High School’s one-act play, “The Scheme of the Driftless Shifter” received a Superior rating, as did individual actors and an ensemble. Pictured are (from left) Zariah Sittig, Sam Dixon, Isaiah Barton, Lexi McKellep and Ben Livingston (in back).
Photo courtesy of SDPB
Isaac Fode and Zariah Sittig were two of BVHS’s 32-member one-act play cast and crew, which received a Superior rating at the Class A State One-Act Play Festival.
Brandon Valley High’s one-act play was one of 13 Class AA programs to earn a Superior rating at the 2023 South Dakota High School Activities State One-Act Play Festival. The event was staged at O’Gorman High School over three days, with BV’s performing early Saturday morning.
BV’s one-act, The Scheme of the Driftless Shifter, proved to delight the judges, as the mixed-up melodrama was all about the efforts of one bumbling cast and crew attempting to produce a serious melodrama. From the premature opening of the curtain to the completely confused curtain call, everything that could go wrong does.
For starters, the pianist plays the wrong music, the curtain opens way too soon, there’s an argument in the audience during the performance, wrong sound cues, wigs come off, wrong speeches are given, all topped off by wrong exits. Yet, through it all, the players valiantly try to surmount the monumental confusion and create an atmosphere of madcap zeal.
Thirty-two BVHS students were selected for their respective on-stage or behind the scenes roles by director Melanie Sittig. Making up the tech crew were Kate Bebensee, Laura Jupiter, Paola Ruiz-Ordaz, Aspen Kortan, Keith Travis, Gavin Klapperich, Mazzi Moore, Emily Outland, Autum Taylor, Grace VanDusen and Amber House.
The cast list included Leah Jellis as Gladys, Sam Dixon as Henry Pompington, Lexi McKellep as Marigold Pompington, Zariah Sittig as Petunia Pompington, and Ben Livingston as the Pompington family’s dog, Rover.
Also taking to the stage for BV were Ben Gromer, who played Rex Holmes, Isaac Fode as Victor Strongheart, Ava Bunkers was the piano player, and Bergen Christensen portrayed the director. Lexie Johnson was assigned the role of assistant director, and Ryan Presler was the prompter. Adding to the show’s humor were Amelia as the Scrubwoman, Ava Anders as the understudy, Isaiah Barton as the stage manager.
To add to BV’s success at the state festival, acting as stagehands were Jaci Stemwedel, Ian Candy, Joe Meline, Hannah Hageman, Alexavia Waysman, Emily House and Bella Reif. As an ensemble, they, too, were awarded a Superior rating.
A dozen members of BV’s cast also landed Superior Actor honors. The list includes Ava Bunkers, Amelia Barr, Isaiah Barton, Bergen Christensen, Ryan Presler, Leah Jellis, Sam Dixon, Lexi McKellep, Zariah Sittig, Ben Livingston, Ben Gromer and Isaac Fode.
Other Class AA schools who earned Superior ratings are: Watertown, 13 Signs You Should Stop Being a Pirate; Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Oh, What a Tangled Web; Spearfish, The Cards of Fate; Pierre T.F. Riggs, Pirates!; Yankton, Radium Girls; Douglas, ...And Others; Harrisburg, Space Princess Wars; Sioux Falls Lincoln, Monstersongs; Aberdeen Central, Schoolhouse Rock Live!; O’Gorman, The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty; Rapid City Central, EQUINOX: A Mythical Ballet; and Brookings, Queens.
