Theatre students honored at regional one act festival for production of ‘Badger’

Members of the Bearden theatre department performed their state award-winning one act Badger at the Southeastern Theatre Conference One Act Festival last week. 

The group won the award for Excellence in World Creation for their physicality and pantomime work. Both Sarenity Wright and Violet King won the all-star cast award. 

Badger follows multiple women from different backgrounds during the time of World War II. The one act originally came together as a final project for an advanced theatre class. A one act is shorter than a standard play with different structure.

“You have to put so much in a little amount of time, but it worked in our favor because we got to encompass the story as a whole and focus on each character’s plot line,” Wright said.

Badger takes a simplistic approach with costumes and props, so the actors really make all the difference. 

Laine Stevens was the student director overseeing the performance. She focused on the individual actors’ attention to detail.

“I had the actors pantomime like they were working at the machines,” Stevens said. “It was very precise and detail-oriented.”

The group came in first place at the Tennessee One Act festival last October, where they competed against the best high school theater programs in the state. The actors advanced to the Southeastern theater conference due to their achievements at the state competition. The group has been preparing for the performance since August of 2022.

This festival offers many great opportunities for students including workshops and connecting with college performing arts programs.

“I got to audition for college theater programs and received multiple callbacks and scholarships,” Wright said.

Eli Solomon, who performed in Badger, says his favorite part of the experience was “meeting new people around the convention and growing closer with my cast.”