One evening a week the Lindsay Holy Family/Humphrey St. Francis one-act team practiced, starting the week of Labor Day — seven or eight practices before the first play festival.
“This year we performed the play six times,” Tina Shumacher, writer and director, said. “The first was Nov. 7, the last was Dec. 6. Each opportunity to perform was met with greater energy and depth of character development. Judges at each performance give critique and suggestions, and then we have to decide what we want to change, if anything. The cast listened well to critique and responded well to direction, trying their best to do what was asked of them.
“At districts, they gave a tremendous performance, earning the opportunity to perform one more time at the state competition. The kids' lives are so full in addition to school work. In the week between districts and state, there were basketball practices and games, an FFA leadership conference, jobs, and a winter music program. Finding the time to squeeze in just one more practice was a juggle, but we managed. Mostly we needed to work on strengthening the highs and lows of our performance and that was our focus in the final practice,” she said.
