Patriot Players awarded best tech and costumes, All-Star actors at SETC

Jonny Smith as Harry Houdini and Olivia Skillern as Bess Houdini rehearse in “”The Last Illusion.” (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – The Patriot Players from Bob Jones High School earned impressive awards at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC).

Bob Jones represented Alabama at SETC 2014 in Mobile on March 5-8.

Bob Jones’ one-act play, “The Last Illusion,” won “Best Technical Production” and “Best Costumes.” Actors Jonny Smith, Marcus Mack, Kayla Peel and Nathan Daniel were named to the All-Star Cast.

Instructors Dwayne Craft and Mary Davis “are incredibly proud of our students’ work.” Directors from six schools and one adjudicator asked for a copy of the script, indicating the achievement level that Patriot Players brought to the stage.

To win Best Technical Production, Bob Jones presented a “highly complex (show), even more complex by magic illusions. Any time you attempt to build and execute two professional quality illusions on stage, you are flirting with disaster,” Craft said. “Fortunately, student technicians and actors pulled these off flawlessly.”

“The SETC performance was their best,” Davis said. “They achieved their purpose — entertaining an audience and transporting them to the life and times of the magical Harry Houdini. I could not have asked for more.”

Costume designer Shari Kingsford and student costumers worked diligently to recreate an accurate period look. “When their efforts are realized on stage, the show becomes immersive,” he said. Costumes also unified the production, augmenting actors’ performances.

Smith (Houdini), Mack (Paul), Peel (Celia Weiss) and Daniel (Martin Beck) earned rights to the All-Star Cast “because their performances were amazing. Obviously, the adjudicators agreed,” Craft said.

“The Parchman Hour” by a North Carolina troupe won “Best Play.” After the awards ceremony, the Bob Jones cast celebrated with the Parchman cast.

While at SETC, Bob Jones students attended diverse workshops from costuming to acting techniques and technical theatre. The students particularly enjoyed the Commedia Dell’arte workshop because it paralleled one of their upcoming shows.

Patriot Players will present “Lies about High School” on March 21, “Androcles and the Lion” in April and a closing show in May.