PERRY, Ga. — Only two schools in the entire state of Georgia get to advance to the Southeastern Theater Conference in Maryland-- and our very own Panthers in Perry get to go!
Perry High School's Fine Arts Department won the Georgia Theater Conference last weekend.
Director Joe Sendek said there are 18 students in the cast and crew.
The students explained that almost everybody in the Fine Arts Department helped create their entire set, so many Panthers played a role in winning the state competitions.
The performance is an epic fairy tale titled "The Chronicles of Atom and Luna."
It follows the story of a pair of twins as they adventure through a mystical forest.
"The whole story is building this elaborate fantasy world, but it's just the journey to figure out who they are, where they come from and where they're meant to be," junior Rachel Manuel said.
Rachel plays Luna, the sister of Atom, who is played by junior Eli Jahescamilla.
In the fantastical set, you can see mushrooms sitting next to trees.
According to Sendek, the mushrooms were actually gourds that were donated for the play.
The Panthers cut the tops and bottoms, filled them with spray foam, put the bottoms on top of the stems and-- voila-- now they're mushrooms.
The trees were also sustainably created with cardboard from the cafeteria.
Some students, like senior Jake Riddle, worked behind the scenes before he took on the role of Iffly at night.
"We try not to limit acting roles strictly for actors and expand and invite anyone who wants to do it and anyone who fits the role," Jake said.
Re-imagining how they want to present their roles, junior Dawkins Ennis gets to play the role of daytime Iffly.
"That's the most fun thing about theater," Dawkins said. "You can twist the characters. and act the way you want to act. and don't have to be someone else."
"I'm just so grateful to have the people that we do have, because most of our is new to the competition class this year, and they make up our ensemble, which won best ensemble at the theater conference," junior Kersten Tuthill said.
In the exclusive play, Kersten plays the role of the witch.
"This is the first time this play's been produced outside of England, in fact we're the second company to perform it," the director explained. "The performance was done with a playwriter in London, and we are the second company to do the show."
"I'm so glad that we have our director, Mr. Joe Sendek, because he's giving us something we wouldn't really get anywhere else," Eli said.
"We are like a big family on stage especially like the GTC group, it's easy to have chemistry with everyone on stage," Dawkins added.
From March 19 through March 22, the students will get to compete in Baltimore, MD, at the Southeastern Theater Conference.
You have a chance to watch it tonight only: Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Panther Pit.
Congratulations to 13WMAZ's School of the Week: Perry High School!
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