To Abilene they travel as a team 

For One Act Play where judges will critique 

Cast and crew rehearsed together for weeks

Desdemona and Juliet once meet.

After theater performed scenes from “Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet” at the UIL bi-district competition, they advanced to the area competition, which will be held in Abilene on April 11.

“Advancing to area was the most magical feeling,” Stage Manager sophomore Emily Keating said. “Legacy hosted both District and Bi-District, so advancing meant that we would get to travel which is going to be really fun given that we are all friends.”

The show takes a professor, Constance, played by junior Micah Miller, into the world of Shakespeare’s plays “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet” because Constance believes Shakespeare did not write his own plays. Constance thinks that Shakespeare took someone else’s plays and took out the wise fool, turning comedies into tragedies. 

“This show truly has evolved so much,” Keating said. “For example, when we started, we were leaning into the comedy aspect, whereas now it is a farce. Everything is bigger than life, creating a humorous aspect.”

Junior Zoe Navarte plays Desdemona in the show, and her character helps Constance through the journey of Shakespeare’s plays. 

“My favorite part of playing Desdemona has to be the costume,” Navarte said. “The corset is so gorgeous, and the fact that we got professionals to costume us at the costume shop was amazing.”

Navarte won honorable mention all-star cast for her role at both the district and bi-district levels. Junior Cayden Newkirk also won honorable mention all-star cast at both levels, junior Tristan DaLuz won all-star cast at district, Miller won best performer at district and all-star cast at bi-district and senior Brynn Thompson won honorable mention all-star cast at bi-district.

“I’m so happy that I’ve received honorable mention all-star cast for both performances so far,” Navarte said. “I set my expectations very low for awards so I wouldn’t be disappointed, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised both times. I view the awards as a confirmation that I’m doing Desdemona’s character justice, and it definitely encourages me a lot.”

One-Act Play is unique from theater’s other shows because it follows specific guidelines for the competition. Each school gets the same amount of time for all parts of their shows: 50 minutes for on-site rehearsals, seven minutes to set up the set, 40 minutes to perform and seven minutes to strike the set.

“My favorite part of this show and this cast is the memories,” Navarte said. “The inside jokes from rehearsals, competition days, watching everyone grow into their characters and all the time that we’ve spent together over the past two months. We’re all like a family in a way, no matter if you do one show or if you do all of them, I feel like one act always has a special place in everyone’s hearts.”

Theater held open auditions for “Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet” on Dec. 18, and theater Director Jeremy Ferman posted the cast list the next day. The cast began rehearsals immediately after winter break on Jan. 13, and they have worked on the play after school since. 

“When we found out that we advanced to area, it was probably one of the best feelings,” Navarte said. “We were announced last and had a lot of amazing competition, so I had no idea what the outcome would be. I’m so glad that we get to work on this show more and that we get to keep performing it. My first thought was I’m not ready to stop doing this show.”

The last time theater went to area was in 2022 with “Epic Proportions,” when they went all the way to regionals. At the district competition, senior Maddy Frank won honor crew, and at bi-district, Keating won honor crew. 

“My favorite thing about this show is the people,” Keating said. “One-Act Play is a competition, so we never know when it’s going to end. The fact that at any given second it can just stop brings the cast and crew together, and some of the strongest friendships are created during OAP.”