Minnesota State One Act Play Festival

How do people in a small town in Iowa cope with the emotional fallout after a fire in a school? What happens when a young Irish girl goes on an odyssey to heal her foot? How does a bourgeois businessman in Paris in the late 17th century deal with delusions of grandeur? What happens to a brother and sister when they're taken captive by pirates? These are a few of the topics that will play themselves out on stage during the 2016 State One Act Play Festival.

Scores of the state's most promising actors and actresses will take to the stage performing 16 one act plays this Thursday and Friday, Feb. 11 and 12, at St. Catherine University's O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul during the 68th annual festival.

Eagan (Class AA) leads all qualified schools by making its 20^th festival appearance. Eagan also leads all schools in "starred performances" and is hoping to earn its 19th "star". Belle Plaine is making its 11^th appearance in the Class A festival. Trinity School at River Ridge of Eagan and Browerville (Class A) are the only schools making their first appearances at this year's festival.  Thursday's opening production will be The Would-Be Gentleman by Trinity School at River Ridge and the day concludes with Radium Girls by Bagley. The other Class A selections to be presented on Thursday are: An Unfortunate Treasure; Anatomy of a Gray; The Fifth Sun; The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World; Rocky's Road; and Oz. The curtain opens on Friday with Doubt: A Parable by Eastview of Apple Valley and the day's concluding play will be The Cripple of Inishmaan
by Alexandria Area. The other Class AA productions scheduled on Friday are: An Echo of Wings; Third; Journey to the World's Edge: A Folk Tale in the Irish Tradition; Engendered Shakespeare: An Experiment in the Male and Female; Doubt: A Parable; and The Importance of Being Earnest. The plays are limited to no more than 35 minutes, following a maximum 10-minute stage set-up. Total cast and crew cannot exceed 20
students.

It is a festival - not a competition. However, each production will be judged and publicly critiqued immediately following each performance. Each cast will attempt to achieve an exceptional rating known as a "starred performance." In 2015, for example, 10 of the 16 plays, five from Class AA and five from Class A, were awarded "starred performance" ratings. The Spotlight on the Arts Award of Excellence will also be presented at the 2016 festival, a unique form of recognition for fine arts participants created by Wells Fargo, the League's premier corporate sponsor, in cooperation with the League. Each cast and crew member of schools earning a "starred performance" rating will receive a handsome acrylic trophy incorporating the Spotlight on the Arts logo.

The Class A schools participating this year (including number of appearances and * starred performance years) are: Trinity School at River Ridge, Eagan (first); Browerville/Eagle Valley (first for Browerville; Eagle Valley made one additional appearance in 1991); Belle Plaine (13th; * in 1993, '97, '99, 2000, '07, '08, '09, '11, '12, '13, and '14); East Central (ninth; * in 1989, 2002, '04,'12, and '15); Hawley (second); Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (sixth under this name; * in 1999; Tyler made one additional appearance in 1949); Fillmore Central, Harmony (fourth); and Bagley (fourth).

The Class AA schools participating this year (including number of appearances and * starred performance years) are: Eastview, Apple Valley (11th; * in 1998, 2002, '03, '07, '09, '10, '11, '12, '13, and '14); Buffalo (18th; * in 1973, '82, '86, '97, 2002, '05, '14, and '15); Minnetonka (11th; * in 1969, 2003, '06, '08, '09, '10, '11, '12, and '13); Cambridge-Isanti (fifth under this name; Cambridge make two additional appearances in 1953 and 1981); Academy of Holy Angels, Richfield (11th; * in 1989, 1993, '97, '98, 2002, '03, '04, '05, and '15); Eagan (20th; * in 1991, '92, '93, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, 2000, '01, '05, '06, '07, '08, '10, '11, '12, and '14); Irondale, New Brighton (second; * in 2014); and Alexandria Area (eighth; * in 1951).

Here is the schedule of the performances:

Class A - Thursday, Feb. 11
Section School Play Time
4 Trinity School at River Ridge The Would-Be Gentleman by Moliere 9:15
5 *Browerville/Eagle Valley An Unfortunate Treasure An Original Production 10:00
2 Belle Plaine Anatomy of Gray by Jim Leonard 11:00

7 East Central The Fifth Sun by Nicholas A. Patricca 11:45
6 Hawley The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World by Jonathan Rand 1:30
3 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Rocky's Road by Fritz Olin 2:15
1 Fillmore Central Oz by Don Zolidis 3:15
8 Bagley Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory 4:00

Class AA - Friday, Feb. 12
Section School Play Time
1 Eastview Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley 9:15
5 Buffalo An Echo of Wings by George Herman 10:00
2 Minnetonka Third by Wendy Wasserstein 11:00
7 Cambridge-Isanti Journey to the World's Edge: A Folk Tale in the Irish Tradition by Harry Michael Bagdasian and Ernest Joselovitz 11:45
6 Academy of Holy Angels Engendered Shakespeare: An Experiment in the Male and Female Scenes by Shakespeare with Narrative by the Company 1:30

3 Eagan Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley 2:15
4 Irondale The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde 3:15
8 Alexandria Area The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh 4:00

The public is invited to attend the 2016 Minnesota State High School League One Act Play Festival. Admission is $10.00 per four-play session for students and adults, and there are two sessions per day. A daily pass is available for $15.00 per day. O'Shaughnessy Auditorium is located at 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul.