High schools often focus more on their sports teams’ successes, but that changed a little with Prior Lake One Acts going to state. After working for the past three months, the cast and crew of the Prior Lake One Act Oz got to show off their labor and talent at the state One Act festival on February 9th at St. Catherine’s University.
Oz follows a girl, Beth, who ends up losing her sister in a car crash and goes through a mental breakdown, which transports her to the no-longer-merry old land of Oz. The characters reflect on the grief and denial Beth faces from losing her sister. Comedy covers the darker meaning behind the characters’ motivations throughout the play.
Going to state was a very big deal for Prior Lake High School and the theater department. The emotions from the cast and crew members after they found out they were going to state were on full display.
“It was a video of me screaming and crying for a minute straight because I could not believe that we made it to state,” said Mason Baas, a member of the Oz cast. “We hadn’t made it to state since 2022 and that was for The Wedding.”
The sentiments from the crew provide similar insight. Aden Mills, a member of the tech crew in charge of the sound for the show, said that getting to state was something special.
One acts at Prior Lake High School are actually separated into three different shows: the competition show, a student-directed show, and a non-competition show.
The competition show involves a competition between Prior Lake High School and other schools in their section and sub-section. However, this competition is atypical from that of sports and other activities.
“You do the best you can and hope everyone else does the best they can,” Aden said.
One Acts has a lot of working parts to it, and there is a great deal expected of the cast and crew through the three months of preparing they put in. Tireless work was put into these shows to make them successful.
“A lot of the work in Competition One Act I would say is honestly a lot of fun. It’s such a great experience, and you grow so much as an actor,” Mason said.
With competition one acts, the show must go on at different locations, which is a unique challenge for the crew who must adapt to different conditions and spaces Aden said.
As a result of their performance at state, the cast and crew of Oz earned a Class AA Starred Performance, the highest award any school could get.
