|
| All About De Leon | P & M Festival | D. H. S. | Toward 2000 |
The DHS One-Act play The Diviners was awarded District honors in Brownwood on Mar. 30, and will be advancing to Regional Competition on April 24. Under the direction of drama coach Ronnie Nations, the play has been a success in that it is winning awards and bringing watery eyes to even the most hardened individual.
The play, written by Jim Leonard, Jr., is set in a tiny Indiana town during the Depression of the early 1930s. The play focuses on a 14-year-old boy named Buddy Layman, who becomes mentally impaired when he almost drowns as a toddler and loses his mother, who dies in the process of saving his life. Because of the tragedy, Buddy is mortally afraid of water in the extreme of not even washing himself; but is able thereafter to sense the weather and find underground water. C.C. Showers, played by Justin Strube, is a backsliding preacher who is disenchanted with his profession, and befriends Buddy. In an attempt to bring salvation to Buddy, C.C. Showers allows him to drown.
The play is opened and closed with a eulogy for Buddy, given by characters Basil Bennet (played by Paul White), Dewey Fields (played by Vance Golden) and Melvin Wilder (played by Cougar Sedillo), who not only interpret but lighten the seriousness of the play.
The Diviners is at once a simply plotted and technically challenging show. The interactions between characters and the basic plot are simple, but with great depth of thought and emotion. The technical side is simple in sets and props, yet amazingly complex in lights and sound, which makes for a dramatic play.
Since DHS is limited in their use of props in rehearsal, The Diviners has a very primitive set, with platforms used for most of the props. Lighting is imperative in a play that demands the audience fill in the set with their own minds, thus allowing the audience to concentrate on the characters.
"We use a blue wash for the river," said Nations, "and use slow motion and lighting for the drowning of Buddy."
Without the lights, the audience would not know where to direct its attention. The quick changing of light from the river to a congregation singing lets the audience visualize the mood and setting.
The crew, consisting of Amy Brinson, Tiffany Sanders, John Humphries and Dustin Froneberger, does an amirable job in keeping everything in line.
"We have to have it down," said Froneberger. "Can't do the show without the lights. If the lights aren't about right, it wouldn't be what everyone expects."
Makeup is a large part of any play, enabling features to stand out, young persons to have grey hair and haggard appearences. Makeup lends credit to a character, helping the audience differentiate between parts.
"I love doing the makeup," said Sanders, "It's really fun."
The DHS cast has a wealth of talent in this year's production, along with a desire for perfection. Although the actors are portraying characters who have no relationship to themselves or their life experience, they must create in-depth, believable personages that everyone can relate to.
For instance, Chris Littlejohn portrays Ferris Layman, Buddy's father; but Chris has been raised by his grandmother.
"He does an admirable job," said Nations.
Cougar Sedillo portrays Melvin Wilder, a farmer who thinks he knows everything about any topic.
"I can relate," said Sedillo, "because I'm from De Leon, a farming community -- even though the character Melvin Wilder doesn't think farming is a real job."
Norma Henshaw as portrayed by Amber Vaughan is great in her depiction of a very religious lady or Bible thumper who thinks C.C. can "heal the boy."
"Amber Vaughn is her part in her portrayal of Norma Henshaw," said Nations, "She was perfect for the role."
Ryan Warren is strong in his role as Buddy. Buddy is unkempt and dirty due to his fear of water, but Warren is normally scrupulously clean at all times, except after a baseball game.
Warren says of Buddy, "He'd be smart if 'it' hadn't happened when he was so small."
Jennie Mae Layman is played by Amber Golden. Jennie Mae is Buddy's older sister who takes over the role of motherhood to her brother after their mother drowns.
"I can feel like I have the responsibility of a younger brother," said Golden, "I have brothers of my own, so I think that is how I can cry when Buddy dies."
The cast is made up of 15 members, which includes the crew. Strife and friction could arise in groups who work so closely together in a competition, but not in this cast.
The performers look out for one another, even when obstacles are in their paths. They even make wake-up calls to members, to ensure they arrive at rehearsals and performances and have correct dates and times.
"We have 15 people from all different backgrounds," said Nations. "You can see the unity grow; they're a close-knit group."
Everyone is really emotionally involved in the play.
"We pray before every performance and rehearsal," said Golden, "and we pray after every performance."
"Most everyone is pretty close," said Warren, "we are mostly a Christian group."
"We seem to have stronger convictions in school now," said Sedillo.
"The shy," said Nations, "may overcome some of their shyness. They have become close friends with good chemistry."
"If one of us misses a cue," said Sedillo, "it's like we know what the other is thinking and can cover."
Like any production, tragedies and traumas will occur. Perhaps this makes this play stronger for the pain it has suffered in an attempt to get the "show on the road."
Strube, who plays C.C. Showers, was so ill on the way to District competition he actually passed out on the bus. Warren, who plays Buddy, was ill at Area competition.
The performers had a shaky start at Area when Vance Golden, who plays Dewey (a young farmhand), called Cougar Sedillo, who plays Melvin (another farmhand), "Cougar" on the stage -- not once, but twice!
Warren sliced his foot open onstage. Recalling the incident, Sedillo ad-libs, "Lot of blood and sweat went into that one."
The cast has lost costumes, wallets, glasses, shoes, etc.; all, according to them, attributable to "theft" -- or absent-mindedness.
"Our biggest obstacle," said Nations, "is no allotted time for practice."
The members have other extracurricular activities such as basketball, baseball, student council, church activities, work, softball, track and cheerleading -- which all take rehearsal time from the play.
The cast has been known to practice whenever possible, sometimes at 7 a.m. and even Sunday afternoons, in their quest for excellence.
Regardless of the trials and tribulations, coping with stage changes at other schools, and injury and illness, the cast has lent credibility and believeablity to the characters they portray with actions and emotions.
The One-Act Play was first started back in 1979 with Ronnie Nations and Nelda Priddy co-directing. After a car wreck, Priddy handed over the reins to Nations and the rest is history.
The first year of the One-Act Play in De Leon, DHS went to District with the play Goodbye to the Clown. The following year the play hit paydirt. The 1980 play, Happy Journey from Camden to Trenton, went all the way to state . . . and won! The cast of this play was a small one, consisting of John D. Nabors, Cathy Bruton, Jackson Boen, Becky Ward, Lisa Walker and Clint Taylor.
"The play," said Nations, "basically consisted of a family, riding in car, making a journey. We took two cars and four chairs, that's all."
Since that time, DHS One-Act Plays have earned district honors 10 times. Two of those plays went on to win area. Vivian Menzel directed the district winner A Canterbury Tale: The Wife of Bath in 1983.
The next challenge facing the performers of The Diviners is the regional competition to be held Friday, April 24.
The cast will have one hour to rehearse on the stage before performing for competition. During that time, they will have to adapt their entrances and exits to the new stage. They will also have to adjust and perfect props, including the all-important lighting.
Even with the coveted rehersals, the play will be facing stiff competiton from other plays in the region, including Aubrey High School, which will be performing The Diviners as well.
Only one judge determines the fate of the competing plays. The judge from Cedar Valley College will have final say as to who advances.
"The judging is hard for drama directors to deal with," said Nations, "in that with a subjective judge, you just never know."
There are 1,700 schools in Texas performing One-Act Plays, and only the top eight in each classification will advance to the State competition. The State compeition will select the top three plays in the state for the honors.
