Watauga High School Drama Group Wins Statewide Honors

             The Watauga High School Playmakers production of “John Lennon and Me” has won the 2007 Distinguished Play Award at the North Carolina Theater Conference One Act Play Competition, a statewide competition held at Fayetteville State University November 15-16.  The Distinguished Play Award is given to the best one act play at the event, which featured sixteen different plays from fifteen high schools. The sixteen plays at the statewide competition were selected from among 85 plays performed in the state regional competitions held earlier this month.
            In addition to winning the Distinguished Play Award, the Playmakers’ performance of “John Lennon and Me” brought the Best Actress award to senior Noelle Austin and an Honorable Mention in Ensemble Acting to the cast as a whole.  The Playmakers, an honors drama group at the high school, were also recognized for their offstage excellence with a special award given by the hosting drama department for exemplary behavior and helpfulness at the event. 
            The Playmakers will now represent North Carolina in the Southeast Theater Conference High School Play Competition to be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee March 6-9.  That competition will feature performances from the best drama groups throughout ten southeastern states.
            Getting the Playmakers to the Chattanooga competition is expected to cost $8-10,000 and community support will be essential to funding the trip.  Persons and organizations interested in helping support the Playmakers are encouraged to contact drama teacher Sarah Miller at Watauga High School at 268-0760. Click here for information about how you can help....
            The statewide award followed an exceptional series of performances by the Playmakers earlier this month at the North Carolina Theatre Conference One Act Play Competition held at Shelby High School, where “John Lennon and Me” was selected as the best play among those performed by eleven high schools.  Following the competition in Shelby, Watauga High School drama teacher Sarah Miller said that “In 13 years of taking students to this competition, I've never had quite such a marvelous weekend.  They really peaked at the right time and I couldn't have been more proud to be with them.  They got wonderful feedback from other schools and the judges. It was incredible!”
            Awards from the competition in Shelby included Excellence in Set Design for "John Lennon and Me" and an Honorable Mention in Ensemble Acting for the comedy play "The Rules of Comedy".  Noelle Austin, Cassidy Maier, and Jonathan Edwards won Honorable Mentions for their performances in "John Lennon and Me" and Will Barbour and Jonathan Shine did likewise for their roles in "The Rules of Comedy".  Ms. Miller pointed out that “it's incredibly rare for one school to get five acting awards.”
            Both “John Lennon and Me” and “The Rules of Comedy” won "Superior" ratings at the Shelby competition, with “John Lennon and Me” receiving 50 out of 52 possible points from both judges.  “The Rules of Comedy” received 48 and 49 points from the two judges.