LCHS Drama team takes State title

When the One-Act Play team from LCHS found out that they’d won the Region Championship, beating out North Hall and the rest of the region for a chance to go to the State Championships, getting the opportunity to travel to Perry and perform one last time at the state level was just “icing on the cake,” according to LCHS Drama Teacher and director Colleen Quigley Martin.
“The kids were really excited to win Region, and that was a big deal,” Martin said. “...It’s an honor to be selected to go [to State]...We didn’t have a huge expectation, I thought we would do well.”
Heading in without a huge expectation, the team headed out with a huge honor: First place in the state.
With the win, the team, which performed John Lennon and Me,  became the first to ever win a State Championship in One-Act Play in the history of LCHS and the first GHSA State Championship Trophy to come back to LCHS since the Literary team won State in 2013.
After a long day of watching other teams’ performances and finally getting to perform their own, the Lumpkin One-Act Play team had what Martin feels was their best performance yet.
“We loaded in our set and got everything set up and the performance was flawless,” she said. “It couldn’t have been better, I think it was better than at our Region competition and left the audience speechless again.”
Even still, Martin knew the competition was tough.
“The other shows were really good, and I’ve judged these competitions before so for me to look, like ‘these shows were really good, we might place. I knew it was a good show, I knew we’d do well. I thought we might place...but the fact that we won was just unbelievable. Well deserved, I mean the performance was beautiful and it was tight all around. Surreal, I think that’s the only way to put it.”

THE LITTLE SHOW THAT COULD

Besides showing that Lumpkin should be respected in the Arts among its peers around the state, the team’s championship performance showed how hard work can help a team overcome any amount of adversity thrown its way.
“After the pandemic and the cancellation of our Spring Musical last year, we suffered a huge loss in revenue,” Martin said. “We rely on each play or musical to pay for the next.  So we found a show that we could produce on a tight budget.  I think I spent $100 total on the set.”
This frugality became glaringly obvious when compared to some of the other performances, yet that didn't stop this team.
“When you see some of these other shows, the show before us had this massive set, huge sound system, just all kinds of different things and here we come in with our little set,” Martin said. “It’s kind of ‘The Little Show That Could.’”
Martin says she’s proud of the honor, because it finally showcases her students in a way people will take note of.
“Theatre students are so passionate about what they do,” she said. “They learn so much through a production like this; an incredible sense of teamwork, self-awareness, perspective, empathy, determination and the ability to be flexible and resilient in any situation. We learn about human nature and relationships and all those elements that make our world go round.”

ENCORE PERFORMANCE

Martin said she hopes the recognition of her team will encourage others to give theatre a chance at LCHS.
“The adults in our community, for the most part, see the value in the arts, but I want them to encourage their children to give a theatre class a chance, or audition for that play,” she said. “The rewards are so great. Not just winning, or getting close to winning, but to be a part of something truly unique and life-changing.”
The team will be putting on an encore performance for the community next week, with information posted on lumpkinschools.com and social media accounts once officially decided.