Theatre showcased their UIL One Act Play on March 21 with their performance of “Wit.” The original play won the Pulitzer prize in 1999 and is about an uncompromising professor of literature who is battling stage five ovarian cancer, played by senior Kerry Madden in the CP version.

The UIL competition consists of students from schools all over Texas performing in a designated play that can only last from 18-40 minutes, with limited time to prepare.  

“This is an incredibly difficult and complex play,” theatre teacher Chris Hathcock said. “It is deeply veined with literary and lauded as such. We are limited by UIL rules to eight hours a week for rehearsal period. Typically, a show has eight weeks to rehearse.”

Though they didn’t advance past district, the performance earned them recognition of best actress for Madden and an honorable mention in stage managing for sophomore Avery Barrett. Vista Ridge, East View and Leander moved onto bi-district for their performances.

“Winning best actress felt like a perfect moment,” Madden said. “After sitting through all the honorable mention awards, and once the final all star cast award was given, I had the mindset of all or nothing.”

Madden has been doing UIL OAP since she was in sixth grade, only winning one award before this, making best actress her final award in her high school career.

“The contest manager Jerry Blake, who was the theatre director at CP for the majority of my high school career, put down the paper she was reading the names off of, and announced my name for best actress,” Madden said. “It’s not very often that a crowd of people burst out in a standing ovation of applause for you. Receiving the highest acting award and finally being recognized for my work felt like a nice punctuation to the whole experience.”

According to Barrett, stage managing is a difficult job that does not receive much recognition, making it a nice feat that she received honorable mention.

“Receiving an award for [stage managing] is an amazing thing because it shows that all of the stuff that you do, all the late nights, all of the crazy rehearsals and schedules, has been recognized,” Barrett said. “And that is probably the best feeling you can have as a stage manager.”

In preparation for the UIL competition, Barrett maintained organization to stay one step ahead of everyone else.

“The key to stage managing any production is to be so organized that when asked a question you immediately know the answer,” Barrett said. “Thus allowing shows, rehearsals and any other tasks to run as smoothly as humanly possible.”

Hathcock shared how exactly CP theatre put together their play, and showed her gratitude towards her cast members.

“In order to achieve this, everyone has to be working at the top of their game in order to allow the cream to rise to the top,” Hathcock said. “I always say there is no such thing as luck. There is preparedness and opportunity. I am extremely proud of [the cast’s] hard work and dedication.”