REGION 1B ONE-ACT COMPETITION WEDNESDAY

JEREMY WALTNER – EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Theater students from Freeman Public and Menno were scheduled to travel to Sioux Falls Lutheran Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 25 for the Region 1B one-act competition, with a trip to the state festival the following week on the line.

Five students from Freeman Public were to take the stage in “The Tale That Wagged the Dog,” a 30-minute comedy by Tim Kelly; and 13 students from Menno were set to perform “Dark Road,” a short drama by Laura Lundgren Smith.

Freeman and Menno are among six schools taking part in the Region 1B competition; the others are Bridgewater-Emery, Irene-Wakonda, Centerville and Sioux Falls Lutheran.

Two of the six will advance to the state competition at O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls Feb. 2-4.

The subjects of Freeman and Menno’s one-act plays are much different.

“The Tale That Wagged the Dog” centers around a man named Rudolph (played by Treyton Waltner), who is the valet for a famous composer named Johann Strauss. While visiting Boston with his controlling wife (played by Dorthea Naatjes), he claims to be selling a lock of hair from the famous composer when really the lock of hair is from his dog. As a result he is visited by three women (played by Allison Bittner, Valentrina Swallow and Justice Mehlhaf) with varying degrees of success.

Freeman’s short play is directed by Iwona Lewter.

In contrast, Menno’s “Dark Road” is set in Nazi Germany in 1946 and focuses on a character named Greta (Kaelie Derby), who in an interview with journalist Daimler (Chandler Dant) recalls her time as a guard in the concentration camps. Specifically, Greta’s story focuses on the relationship with her sister Lise (Alexis Hogeland), who is sympathetic to the Jews being persecuted and who loses her life after her sister catches her interacting with a prisoner.

Menno’s play is under the direction of Betsy Knodel, Martin Sieverding and student director Brooklyn Mettler.