The theater company will perform their play “The Visit” at their District One Act Play (OAP) competition today in Burnet. 

“The company is working very hard to prepare for district,” freshman theater student Kenzie Stone said. “Though it is very nerve racking as there is still much to be done.”

Theater production students have been preparing their show for competition since December. 

“We’ve been having weekend rehearsals, rehearsals in the park, 3 hour rehearsals and even a 7 hour rehearsal from after school till 11 pm,” senior theater president Cara Mitchell said. “We have had three clinics where judges watched our shows and gave us critiques/ improvements to make on our show. We work all day on painting/building our set and spend all after school working on acting.”

At the competition students have a pre-show rehearsal that is used to test lighting, mark prop areas, check projection levels, show contest managers fake weapons and run a few scenes. The company then waits a couple hours till their performance time. This in between time is typically used to put on makeup and costumes and also do warmups. Then it’s time for the show to begin. 

“We get 7 minutes to set up our entire set,” Mitchell said. “We then perform for no more than 39 minutes and 55 seconds because going over 40 minutes leads to disqualification. Then we take down our set in 7 minutes and nervously wait for results.” 

Mitchell is the only senior in the theater company, meaning this is her last district competition. 

“It makes me upset knowing this is my last district competition because it feels like I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been doing OAP since I was 11 and now this is my last year. I’m happy that I have such a good group for my last time. I get to enjoy this one with some of the dearest friends I’ve ever had.”

Though the company has been working very hard in preparation there are still lots of fun and crazy moments that have taken place this OAP season. 

“My favorite memory from this season so far has been watching a full on fight break out in a Walgreens parking lot on the way to one of our clinics,” Stone said. “There were two cars, two guys, one water bottle, a smashed window and lots of rage. That was insane but overall it has been a great experience my first year and I’m very excited for my future in Lampasas Theater company!”