Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 22, 1994 TAG: 9402220238
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Pulaski County students also took top acting honors from among the five actors recognized in district judging.
Aaron Parks was judged the best actor from among those in all seven plays performed at Albemarle County High School, and April Corvin placed second. Both performed in the stage adaptation of Franz Kafka's ``Metamorphosis.''
Director Rhonda Welsh, Pulaski County drama teacher, got a perfect score as she did at regional competition the week before, where the Pulaski County entry placed first. She said this was the first year she had gotten perfect directing scores.
The two top plays from each district will be judged at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville next week.
Although each play could be no longer than 35 minutes, the competition dragged on for 10 hours because of various delays. One delay came when a truck broke from a school about an hour away broke down and that group was two hours late.
That was the school that ended up winning, Welsh said. ``We were traveling from four hours away and we got there in time to go up first.''
Performing first turned out to be a disadvantage, she said, because lighting problems on the school's stage had not yet been worked out. By the time the winning school performed, Welsh said, everything was working perfectly.
``Because there were so many problems, I was not sure that we had even placed,'' she said. ``I was very pleased that we did as well as we did.''
The winning play got 291 out of a possible 300 points, while ``Metamorphosis'' got 289 points. Welsh said one judge spoke of taking off several points because a candle fell during the opening part of ``Metamorphosis.'' She said that happened because the lighting problems kept the actors from seeing where to put their candles, and those points would have made the difference.
But placement at the district level will not be a factor in the state judging next week, she said. This is the fifth year in a row that Pulaski County High School has made it to state drama competition, a new record for the school.
by CNB