One-Act Play: Bog of Cats

May 16, 2013

This year’s GRHS Theater Department performed Bog of Cats for the UIL One-Act play contest. The play is a new script by Irish playwright Marina Carr based on the Greek play, Medea. The entire cast had very impressive Irish accents throughout the whole play.

This was Haley Enns’ first One-Act. “As my first One Act, it was a really good experience,” Enns said. “It was fun playing a little girl because I already look like I’m seven. It was really fun and I liked it a lot.”

Kennan Chiasson also gave a great performance, particularly the fighting on stage. “It hurt really bad to get slapped by Sarah May,” Chiasson said. “She definitely hits like a man. But it was cool because we would have to watch martial arts videos to learn how to flip over, but it was fun. We were bruised up, but it was definitely worth it to make a good show,” Chiasson said.

It was interesting to discover that Hunter Leach played a female in this play, Mrs. Kilbride. He did a very believable job. “I just kind of made the best of the role,” Leach said. “I wasn’t really happy about it at first, but it ended up being a really fun role to play and I’m glad I got to do it.”

The most impressive performance was by Sarah May, who took the lead role as Hester Swane. Her acting was phenomenal and absolutely heartbreaking. We asked her how she prepared for the role and she said, “A lot of rehearsal and then I did a lot of work on my own just kind of thinking about the woman that I was playing, and different ways that wouldn’t be so stereotypical. It was a lot of fun, I learned a lot about her and a lot about myself. It was a really great experience.”

Mrs. Walters said the theater department put hours of preparation into this play and the One Act competition. “We did a lot of intense research about Ireland and about woman under stress and families that are going through loss and violence,” Walters said. “A lot of talking about sociology and aspects of the production and understanding it wasn’t just what was on the script but what was happening in the world outside. We learned a lot about ourselves. We did compete at district level and we were alternate area.”

Bog of Cats was a truly amazing play, and our theater students did a fantastic job with it.

The cast included:

Sarah May (11) – Hester Swane

Cooper Schultz (12) – The Ghost Fancier

Princess Johnson (11) – Monica Murray

Haley Enns (11) – Josie Kilbride

Hunter Leach (12) – Mrs. Kilbride

Shannon Paradine (11) – The Catwoman

Abby Eschler (11) – Caroline Cassidy

Parker McNally (12) – Xavier Cassidy

Keenan Chiasson (12) – Carthage Kilbride

Sean Hardin (11) – Ghost of Joseph Swane