Van High School Theatre Advances To State

Van High School has won the Conference AAA, Region II University Interscholastic League One-Act Play competition and for the fifth time in the last seven years will advance to the State meet in Austin. Van’s production of "The Elephant Man" by Bernard Pomerance competed at Texas A & M - Commerce on Friday, April 11, competing against five other schools for the regional championship.

The region meet consisted of Mt. Vernon High School with its production of "The Shadow Box"; Eustace with "The Trojan Women"; Lucas Lovejoy with "And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson:; Hillsboro with "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail"; Royse City with "A Plague of Angels"; and Van with "The Elephant Man".

Lucas Lovejoy and Van were the two advancing plays with Royse City selected as the alternate production. In addition to winning the region title, junior Bonnie McGowan and senior Rivers Shotwell were named to the regional all-star cast while junior Tim Calnan and senior Josh Helms were named to the honorable-mention, all star cast for their performances.

The League’s One-Act Play Contest, founded in 1927, is the largest high school play production contest or play festival in the world. More than 14,000 Texas high school students in more than 1,000 plays participate in 300 plus contests, which take place from the beginning of March through the three-day, 40-production State Meet One-Act Play Contest. The One-Act Play Contest is supported by more than 200 college and university faculty members serving as critic judges. The League’s theatre program is considered by historians to be the foundation of educational and community theatre in Texas. It continues to be a major factor motivating increasing numbers of schools to offer theatre arts as an academic subject.

Van’s production of "The Elephant Man" will now travel to Austin and perform in the historic Hogg Auditorium due to the fact that the Bass Concert Hall is under renovation. Of the 224 Conference AAA schools that began the UIL one-act play competition in March, eight are left. Those eight schools and the productions are as follows in order of performance: (1) Decatur with "Threads"; (2) Wimberley with "The History of Tom Jones"; (3) Van with "The Elephant Man"; (4) Zapata with "The History of Tom Jones; (5) Seminole with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"; Caldwell with "The Women of Lockerbie"; Mexia with "The Kentucky Cycle: Fire in the Hole"; Lucas Lovejoy with "And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson".

The Conference AAA State contest will be on April 24 in Hogg Auditorium on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. The competition is divided into two sessions with Session I beginning at 4 p.m. Session II begins at 7:30. Admission is $10 adult and $5 student for each session. Van is allotted 125 tickets, and that reservation must be made by April 18 by noon. Anyone wishing to attend the meet should contact Mr. Wisdom at the high school.

Van High School will mark its 5th appearance at the state meet with its production of "The Elephant Man". The company appeared and won the state title in 2002 with its production of "Godspell". In 2004, the Company won third place at state with its production of "Assassins". In 2005, the Company again won the state title with its production of "The Caucasian Chalk Circle". In 2007, the company won its third state championship with its production of "Man of La Mancha".

Members of the company include Rivers Shotwell, Josh Helms, Blade Healey, Jake Smith, Angel Wright, Emily Sliter, Bonnie McGowan, Tim Calnan, Danielle Puckett, Matt Butler, Josh Wallace, Elizabeth Wisdom, Jarrod White, Kasi Dickerson, and Shyanne Thompson. The production is crewed by Whitney Ward, Dale Shelton, Ben Palmer, and Tori Chase.

"The Elephant Man" presents to an audience John Merrick, dubbed the Elephant Man during his years in a circus freak show in Victorian England. After suffering for years at the hands of his circus master, the eloquent, soft spoken Merrick is rescued by compassionate surgeon Dr. Frederick Treves, who allows him to live at the hospital where he works. Merrick becomes a social celebrity when he meets a popular stage performer, but he must continue to fight for his dignity with those who still choose to view him as a freak. The story is about the journey of Dr. Frederick Treves as much as, if not more than, the journey of John Merrick.

Director Larry Wisdom said, "The play has been for all of us a powerful journey awaking us to the sanctity of life and the importance of respect for others."

Wisdom also stated that "I directed my wife in 1979 in a production of "Blithe Spirit" that appeared in Hogg Auditorium. It closed in 1982, and now, I get to go back to the space with my daughter, Elizabeth, in the production. The Wisdoms will mark their 23rd appearance at the state meet with this production of "The Elephant Man". Sue Wisdom, who appeared in a production of "Blithe Spirit" in 1979 directed by her husband, will now mark her return to the Hogg Auditorium as a director. All of these events mingled with a very special group of students make this trek to Austin very special.

"The Elephant Man" will be presented to the public following the state meet along with the district championship production of VJHS production of "To See the Stars".