For the first time in 30 years of Fremont High School’s history, the theater’s play “Elephant’s Graveyard” went to state and won first place with an outstanding performance.
It all started back in December when auditions for Elephant’s Graveyard were held and casted. When the students came back from winter break, they got to work. From January to March rehearsals were constant everyday, during class they went through numerous exercises to build each other up as an ensemble.
They placed second place in the region and when the judges gave their feedback they didn’t hesitate to change some things up. With only three pick up rehearsals until they went to state, they set a goal of getting a better score than last year but walked away more than they could have imagined.
The director of the piece, Ashley Patterson and the teacher of the Actors Repertory class, says, “I actually found out at 10 o’clock the day of state, before anybody else found out, that we won and it was so hard to keep that secret, but I wanted to keep that secret because I wanted them to feel that energy when they announced the winners.”
Nothing that is accomplished ever comes without its challenges. This play in particular has around 11 characters, but the class of seniors contained 30, meaning they added new characters to play a part in the story–which is both a creative and logistical challenge.
The performers were kept busy as “The Lightning Thief” was showing on Fremont’s stage at almost the exact same time, meaning most of the students had to balance more than one project at once.
To help cope with the stress during the week of “The Lightning Thief,” Patterson had her students do group meditations to prevent them from feeling overly stressed about their other projects. This not only helped bond them together, but also created a moment of break allowing them to return even more ready to work.
Hannah Curletto, a Senior contestant in the individuals portion who received first place in Costume Design speaks on how her experience has helped foster her future. She says, “I don’t know what I have planned for the future, honestly. But seeing the support of my peers at state really helped, and it did help me develop some presentation skills.”
This group was all Seniors this year, meaning they will not return next year. It’s not only an ending for them, but it leads to the beginning for future performers. “It’s exciting and new because every class brings something different and exciting,” Patterson explains.
Korbin Doutre, a performer who received a 3rd place medal for his performance with Billy Pendleton, another senior performer, in a pantomime sketch, leaves some advice for incoming students. He says “Don’t try to win, because that is what I did last year. I really thought [my performance] last year was fantastic. I thought it was first place material and I thought everyone else was not gonna be as good as mine. And I didn’t even get to the medal rounds at region or state…” Further, Doutre adds, “You don’t know you’re a theatre kid until you’ve tried it.”
Success and skill like this takes time, so the earlier you enter the world of theater and drama, the better. Mrs. Patterson, the director of Elephant’s Graveyard also expresses, “I knew from the first day of school that it was gonna be a good year this year. Just knowing the people in the class. I’ve had them pretty much since they were Sophomores, so I’ve known them for a while. I’ve watched them grow up and even just this year alone the growth between the first day of school and now has been incredible. They’re all gonna go onto amazing things and I’m just so proud of them.”
She leaves one last message for her students,”If any class were to win first place, it was this one, this one was gonna make it.” Congrats to Actors Repertoire!
