Donna Everett’s Dramatic Stars

Teaching is an art form of its own. It takes highly dedicated, organized, and creative individuals to keep up with the constantly changing methods and standards while still reaching their students every day. Polk County students are lucky to have such an individual in Donna Everett who is helping them to apply and strengthen their literature and communication skills through theatre. Her students recently attended the North Carolina Theatre Conference and Donna Everett was proud to announce they brought home “two excellents and an acting award” this year. I emailed Donna to find out more about the awards and competition.

What does this mean “two excellents and an acting award” for those of us who’ve not been exposed to a NCTC event?
Eighteen schools from the western region participated - only four received a "superior" rating. On one of our adjudication sheets we scored a 44 --- superior starts at 46. Needless to say, we were pretty pleased.
The judges give one acting award and then give four more "runner-up" awards. Out of 237 students who performed from the respective schools my lead, Candice Owen, took one of the four runner-up's.

What show did you take to the competition and why?
The show I chose was a one-act entitled GOVERNING ALICE. It is a modern take on Sophocles' ANTIGONE. The protagonist, Alice, is the middle child misfit in a family of seemingly focused, intellectual, upright siblings. Her older brother, Ethan, has been named valedictorian of the graduating class and the younger sister, Izzy, (who idolizes her brother) is just as hard working. Alice is the rebel - she comes in tardy to all classes, is failing English, doesn't do her homework and is defiant to administration. As the play opens, Alice is determined to deliver her brother's valedictory address because (as we will discover in the course of the play) Ethan has a dark, little secret - he holds up convenience stores and the morning before graduation is shot and killed in the process of holding up yet another store.
The principal simply wants it all to go away - he wants to pretend like Ethan never came through the school. The English teacher understands the duality of human nature and truly likes Alice. He is the one who helps her come to terms with her brother's two natures. In the end, Alice defies authority and reads her brother's address at graduation.
I chose this play for several reasons. I've always been drawn to plays with strong female protagonists and I love teaching ANTIGONE - it's my favorite of the trilogy. I also knew I had a strong female actor who could pull off the role of Alice - Candice Owen. Candice is a junior and has really refined her acting skills over the last two years.

How did the students perform in the competition setting vs. here at home?
We've been going to competitions now for five years -- and each year, it's nerve-racking. We perform the play for the student body the day before we take the play to competition. It's good for the students to see how we will represent the high school and it's good for the actors to get a feel for how the show will play to an audience. It's funny though -- as a rule, the plays that our students really respond to seem to be the ones that do not fare as well in the adjudication. Yet the ones that the students don't seem to care for are the ones that do well. After this performance, one of the kids in the show came running backstage with this huge grin and happily exclaimed, "Nobody liked it!" We took it as a sure sign of success at Western.

What differences did you notice as their director?
The biggest difference I notice is that performing for the hometown crowd is more relaxed. If someone drops a line or misses a cue, it's embarrassing, but not crucial. At competition, a dropped line or missed cue could cost the team major points on the adjudication sheet. The competition is very, very strict. Students run it all - from the stage manager to the technical director. We have to designate a student to sit with the college students and call lighting and sound cues for the performance. No adult is allowed to participate in any way.
The performance is also timed. Schools are given 45 minutes to set up the scenery, perform the piece, strike the scenery, and get everything over the finish tape in that allotted period. Schools have been disqualified for going over time. We rehearse crossing the starting tape and striking set to cross the finish tape just as we rehearse the show itself. One school this year left a small piece of veil, no larger than your palm, on stage. Their time ran 44 minutes and 57 seconds, and with the fabric left on the stage, they were disqualified. It's really, really intense.

Sounds like they're really sticklers for details, why?
Sticklers for details - yes - the North Carolina Theater Conference (NCTC) runs theater festivals at the junior high, senior high, and community levels. It is of note that this is the same organization that sponsored the theater festival that "Nunsense" participated in years ago. In order for the adjudication to be as equitable as possible, there are very, very specific guidelines. We receive copies of the adjudication sheets as well as all festival rules and guidelines a couple of months before the competition. It just levels the playing field for all concerned.

How does building a competitive piece of theatre compare to the band program or the football program?
Unlike football or other team sports in which the team competes against schools of similarly sized populations, in theater, we perform with schools whose budgets and student population may be significantly larger than ours. We also perform in regional play - schools from as far east as Charlotte/Mecklenburg and as far west as the Tennessee border participate.
I really don't like using the word "compete" in reference to an art form. I try to emphasize to my kids that we are participants - performers - not competitors. Yes, only two schools will move on to state, but I think the idea of "competition" is not applicable here. Imagine Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo being "in competition." One may prefer a style over another or may prefer a particular work, but both are artists. I would hope that my students embrace theater for the love of the craft and desire to perform that craft to the best of their ability, not because they are interested in "beating" another team from the region.

Did you know all the rules the first year?
When I lived in Richmond, we participated every year in the Virginia High School League's one-act play festival. We competed first at the district level, then regional, then state. NCTC is not that different - they do allow more time (45 minutes as opposed to 30 in VA) and start the festival at the regional level rather than the district level. Otherwise, the festivals are quite similar.

What have you learned?
In the past three years, I've gotten a better handle on what the adjudicators are looking for as far as content. A silly comedy that may entertain a high school group really does not work well at the festival level. The adjudicators are looking for groups that really bring a professional show to festival. Many groups actually write their own material. One of the plays going to state this year from our region is one that a Hopewell High student wrote, directed, and performed in. I've not developed our program to that point . . . yet.

What kind of things are the adjudicators looking for?
Plays are judged in three areas: acting, directing, and technical. Scores from 1 point (fair) to 4 points (superior) are given in acting for believable characterization, projection and articulation, physicality, energy, ensemble work, and consistency. In directing, points are scored in the areas of blocking/choreography/use of space, pacing, conceptual clarity, choice of play (originality, appropriateness for age and skill level) and ensemble work. Technical is one score for overall. Total scores of 46 - 52 are considered "superior" and scores of 33 - 45 are "excellent." The two top scorers in the superior category earn the privilege of going to state. This year, both plays from Hopewell High School went to state.

Our scores were high excellents. I was very, very pleased with them especially since almost half the cast was new not only to the festival, but to the stage as well. This is only my second year actually teaching drama at Polk County. Before this, I taught English. I am seeing growth in the program and I'm starting to develop some depth as well. The most significant element of our drama program is taking these students to see productions - to actually witness what good acting and good productions look like. Many of our kids come into the program never having seen a live theater production. I'm fortunate to have a number of friends and associates in area community theaters and have been able to gain permission for my students to attend final dress rehearsals for free at a number of area theaters. Last year, we attended shows at Tryon Little Theater, Spartanburg Little Theater, South Carolina Governor's School for Art and Humanities, and the Warehouse Theater. This year, we've only been able to attend shows at TLT, but I hope to take a group back to SC Governor's School for their next show in a couple of weeks.

How have your students changed over the years?
If the students have changed at all, it's been in their attitude toward theater. At first, they see theater as just one improvisation activity after another - getting up in front of class and acting silly. While there is certainly a time for improv, they were missing some fairly significant parts of the craft - the acting skills, the importance of projection and articulation, the technical aspects. I've been delighted to see them taking theater more seriously and really working on their craft. And I think our score this time really speaks to how our program is developing. Building a theater program is not unlike building a band program or a football program. There are skills one must develop and practice to be successful. Loyalty and dedication are important. When students are rehearsing over 125 hours in less than 6 weeks, that's dedication. When a cast member is willing to rehearse the same scene over and over -- sometimes 10 and 12 times during one rehearsal -- that's dedication. And that's what builds a theater program. Talent is good, but dedication is better.

I think I've changed as a teacher and as a director as well. Thanks to a generous grant from the Polk County Foundation, I was able to start my master's degree program through New York University's Steinhardt School and my first class was in London this past summer. I saw many amazing shows as part of the course and brought back lots of ideas for my shows. I also met many individuals directly involved in theater education who shared a wealth of information. One of my most prized experiences was the week we spent in a public high school in London's north central district. I learned so much about the British public school system and how they teach theater. I worked directly with one of the four theater teachers at the secondary school and was invited to bring my drama kids to London to work with her students. Much of what I've learned has recharged and redirected what I do in the classroom and I feel it has made our program stronger and our students much better actors.