>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
>
|
ARTICLE
Published - Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Local students in play competition learn from experience of acting
By TERRY RINDFLEISCH / Of the Tribune staff
*********
AURORA BRINSFIELD, a junior at Youth Initiative High School, likes the
feeling on stage, including the anticipation and anxiety.
"In another character, I experience someone totally different," Brinsfield
said. "In this play, I play a schizophrenic, which is extremely different
and challenging. But on stage, the character becomes part of me.
"Theater has also taught me acceptance of the diversity of personalities,"
she said.
*********
When Tim Smith sets foot on a theater stage, the 18-year-old Sparta High School senior leaves his troubles behind.
Smith finds fulfillment and fun in playing somebody else in a theater production. "Theater helps me deal with life, and I can lose myself when I completely become someone else on stage," he said.
Classmate Amber Freeman, also an 18-year-old senior, has found theater to be life-changing.
"It has changed who I am a lot," Freeman said. "I've been pretty quiet, but I gained a lot more self-confidence and now I am more outgoing because of my theater experience."
Smith and Freeman also are excited about theater this year because Sparta's one-act play, "The Eleventh," advanced to state in its first time competing in the state high school one-act competition.
Sparta High School, Viroqua High School and Viroqua Youth Initiative High School were the La Crosse area schools to advance to the state competition. The Wisconsin State High School One-Act competition will be Nov. 21-22 in La Crosse.
Laurie Swigart, Sparta's one-act director, said her students staged a play about the Sept. 11, 2002, terrorist attack using an original script from playwright Mike Willis of Platteville, Wis.
"I like the play because it hits home, and it just happened," said Smith, who plays a firefighter.
Viroqua High School has qualified for the sectionals and the state competition most of Sherry Getter's 30 years as theater teacher. This year, Viroqua is staging "Across the Plains: The Journey of the Palace Wagon Family."
Inga Jacobson, a Viroqua High School senior, said she likes the family atmosphere of staging a one-act play and learning to work together as team. "We learn discipline and theater decorum," Jacobson said. "Theater allows you to experience another character and look differently at life. It also has kept me out of trouble. It keeps me busy and moving."
Her classmate, Brittney Skrupky, said she likes to be a different person on stage, and she feels more confident in herself because of her acting experience. "Theater broadens your horizons," said Michelle Dregne, a Viroqua High School senior.
Viroqua Youth Initiative High School's entry in the one-act festival is "War In Heaven," the tale of an angel fallen to Earth from a battle in heaven.
The high school has qualified for the state one-act competition once before with adviser Eddy Nix.
Rudiger Bakus, a senior at Youth Initiative High School, said theater is therapy for him. "You can release energy and you can experience what's inside of your character and what the character is feeling," Bakus said.
Isaac Park, a Youth Initiative High School sophomore, said he has discovered more about himself through theater. "It gives me a chance to be someone else and a chance to experience something totally different in life," Park said.
*********
AURORA BRINSFIELD, a junior at Youth Initiative High School, likes the feeling on stage, including the anticipation and anxiety.
"In another character, I experience someone totally different," Brinsfield said. "In this play, I play a schizophrenic, which is extremely different and challenging. But on stage, the character becomes part of me.
"Theater has also taught me acceptance of the diversity of personalities," she said.
*********
FESTIVAL:
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Viterbo University play host to this year's Wisconsin State High School Theater Festival Nov. 21-22. The event attracts more than 2,000 high school theater students and teachers for two days of workshops and a festival of one-act plays.
Viterbo will be the site of showcase performances, full-length produc-tions from around the state. UW-L will be the site of one-act play performances and workshops. The one-act plays will run the two days in both the Toland Theatre andValhalla in the Cartwright Center. About 50 one-act plays will be staged.
END ARTICLE
to more stars at thestars
Bill Brinsfield
Justin Brinsfield
Joie Brinsfield