With a shortened season due to scheduling conflicts, the St. Clair One Act team has had to accelerate their preparation for their performance of “Dark Road” as subsections begin on January 25.One Act is judged on a series of criteria and has a strict 35 minute time limit–even being one second long can cost a school a competition.
It’s a peculiar year for One Act as many of the cast’s crew are inexperienced, but they have taken the leadership under Directors Michael Gottberg, Aaron Stuve, and Emma Winkelman to heart as they work through their rehearsals. One Act is a highly competitive activity that St. Clair has done well in previous years, but have struggled to break through and qualify for State; Belle Plaine and Maple River have been rivals in the competition for years. While there are seven seniors on the One Act team, only three in Maria Miller, Mackenzie Lehmann, and Leah Wakefield are returning contributors to One Act, but notable seniors like Lincoln Froehlich and Ana Ordaz have brought a revitalized energy and commitment to putting on a great performance.
The story of “Dark Road” tells a gripping story about two sisters in Nazi Germany during WWII where one sister Greta, played by Olivia McGowan, takes great reverence in being a prison guard at a concentration camp while her sister Lise, played by Ordaz, does everything in her power to convince Greta to let go of her animosity toward the Jewish prisoners. The structure of the play centers around Froehlich’s character Daimler, a journalist interviewing Greta and learning more about her cruelty while serving as a guard; flashbacks are a pivotal part of the play as scenes will transition from the past to the present throughout the performance. Gottberg noted that the importance of “highlighting the history of WWII” was a strong motivational force for choosing “Dark Road” and through the use of holographic projection, captured footage of the real-life conditions of prisoners of concentration camps will certainly add a level of realistic depth to the performance.
The Journal attended the dress rehearsal on Thursday, January 9 and the pressure was on as the St. Clair One Act team would travel to Le Sueur-Henderson for a friendly competition known as a “Festival” on January 11. As the cast members were fitted for their costumes, there was some tension in the air as some actors were still memorizing lines, practicing their cues and blocking with other actors, and Winkelman had to make a quick fix to one of the guard’s red armbands.
Stuve frantically paced around the gym as he directed the tech crew of Isaac Coudron, Tyler Frank, and Cole Willson, but as the cast took the stage, his demeanor dissolved as he spoke about the recent “crunch” the One Act team has had to take in preparation for the Festival, “We normally have a bit more time to prepare for this competition, so this past week have been hard on us all. Once we get past the festival, we will have about two weeks to tweak some things and really make this performance something to remember.” This year’s One Act team has a younger and inexperienced cast and crew, but Stuve was optimistic St. Clair will perform well, “It’s hard to gauge how well this young team will do, but we’re happy with where we are right now. Some of the actors barely have any experience and yet they have been able to pick everything up quickly and we are excited to see what they can do.”
Froehlich and McGowan opened the performance with a brief exchange before the first flashback set up the core conflict between sisters Greta and Lise. The first scene that showed the prison guards and Miller as the Aufseherin or camp commandant showcased incredible performances that highlighted the dehumanization of a group of prisoners known as the Ensemble; Miller especially shined as she barked orders and maintained an intimidating presence while on stage. The guards led by McGowan also displayed teamwork as they marched around the Ensemble as they ordered them to remove their valuables, stripped them of their names, and spit obscenities and slurs toward the prisoners.
The play would bounce back and forth between an interview with Daimler, scenes showing the depravity and hatred Greta had toward her prisoners, but the core of the story rested with the two sisters being at odds with each other. Ordaz and McGowan had great chemistry as their arguments as Greta and Lise would start out as a peaceful banter between two sisters, but would quickly devolve into a shouting match as their conflicting ideologies and beliefs soon forced a wedge between the two. Lise attempted to appeal to her sister’s humanity with a warm embrace, but was shoved away by Greta; she would later challenge the camp’s conditions after learning about the cruel treatment of the Ensemble, but her sister took the challenge as a threat to the safety of the Third Reich and went as far as to briefly choke Lise. It was a stark departure to who McGowan is in real life, so her commitment to playing such a reprehensible character is worth a rousing commendation.
As the story drew to a close, Lise attempted to return a necklace that was confiscated from a prisoner of the camp, but her good deed would cost her her freedom as the commandant and Greta punished her to solitary confinement. The cruel act led to a contentious exchange between Daimler and Greta that resulted in Froehlich slapping McGowan in utter disgust and contempt. The final scene of the play presented the comeuppance for Greta as she was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to hang for her war crimes under the Third Reich; an audience of the remaining Ensemble members shouted profanities at the former guard. As the noose was placed around her neck, McGowan delivered a monologue that ended with a chilling line, “There is a monster in us all.”
It was a collaborative process after the performance as the Directors gave kudos to the cast and crew, but still offered some areas to improve like Gottberg urging the prison guards to be “more angry and boisterous” while dehumanizing the Ensemble. Stuve and Winkelman were both impressed how well the performance went and the former felt confident this would “do well on a competition stage.” This reporter certainly agrees with that sentiment. The One Act team performed well at the Festival on January 11 as they acted against LSH & MR, but no official rankings were assessed; however, they did receive valuable feedback that will be used as they prepare to give an incredibly tantalizing performance at Subsections on January 25 at Maple River. Go Cyclones!
