Having survived the rigors of competition at the regional level, first-place finisher Velva and second-place winner Glenburn will travel to Grand Forks to compete against 20 other high school acting troupes in the State One-Act Play Contest.
The regional qualifiers perform at two venues Nov. 21. The top four plays from each preliminary site will advance to the finals at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks on Nov. 22.
Velva, with "Property Rites" by Alan Haehnel and directed by Melissa Ali, will compete at 10:15 a.m. at UND's Burtness Theatre. Glenburn will perform "Jack vs. Jill" by Dustin Robert Blakeman and directed by Paula Nett at 11 a.m. in the Empire Theatre in Grand Forks. Awards will be announced at the Burtness at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
When the Region 8 awards were decided after a day of performances at Minot State University on Nov. 3, rather than eight individual "Superior Acting Awards," the characters known as "Figures" in the Velva play shared the honor as a single entity. Breanne Sherlock, Emily Larson, Marissa Choiniere, Sadie Thomas, Cassidy Peterson and Cora Pfennig were considered equally deserving, according to judge Brett Olson.
"They were really exceptional," he said. "And you know, the whole day went really well. There were quite a few schools involved this year (nine), and things are looking up for the region."
Also recognized in the acting awards were Forrest Carlson of Glenburn, Andrew Abernathey and Tanner Aasen of Mohall-Leeds-Sherwood, Jared Munson of Bottineau, Zachary Klokstad and Logan Hermes of Westhope and Jacob Effertz of Velva. Judges were Kevin Neuharth and Peg Morris in addition to Olson.