Piedmont One-Act Play Wins State

After countless hours of rehearsals and hard work, Piedmont Academy captured its third state title in one-act play on Tuesday at the GISA AA State Competition held at Darton State College in Albany.

The play received first place rankings from all three judges, giving them the title by four ranking points. The next closest play was the first runner-up which was Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, Act Three, performed by Crisp Academy in Cordele. The Piedmont team was nine points ahead of the second runner-up The Romancers performed by Wildwood Christian School from Atlanta. There were eight total plays competing at the state competition.

The judges further recognized Piedmont’s work by giving an honorable mention performance award to the entire ensemble of 13 actors who all stay on stage for a large portion of the production. They praised the production for its high energy from set-up to strike, and they loved how every character was involved in every aspect of the play.

Individually, the judges gave two of the five outstanding performance awards to junior Steve Martin who played the role of “Sam Morpone” and to sophomore Maddie Mooneyham who played the role of “Mimi Rowe.”

The play, titled The End of Civilization As We Know It, was written by Mark Kaufmann, and it features the story of students on the morning of their dreaded history final. The students are, to say the least, stressed, but have a glimmer of hope when they receive word that the teacher is absent. When their teacher, Mr. Mangles arrives, the exam he gives is not what they expect. The play is a short comedy with an important lesson.

Playing the lead role of Mr. Mangles is sophomore Will Tillman who was recognized for his outstanding performance at the region competition.

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Filling out the cast are seniors Gabe Courtman as “Joe Rubiac,” Cameron Hallman as “Cathy McCann,” Andrew Mitchell as “Ted Hogan,” and Chase Olson as “Ben Kowalik.”

The show also featured junior Morgan Leach as “Lily Trent,” sophomore Nick Maynard as “Leezel Crane,” sophomore Danny Ramsdell as “Justin Garfield.”

Also appearing on stage in non-speaking roles were Christopher Cain, Summer Collins, Bridgette Phillips, and Matti Smith. Set Crew included Cheyenne Galloway, Marissa Mooneyham, and Hank Strickland. Technical crew included P.J. Leonetti and Chris McClain.

The show was directed by Bobbi Sauls, who was also praised by the judges for her work with these students. This represents Ms. Sauls third state one-act title and eleventh state title as a drama, debate, and spring literary coach.

The cast and crew were supported by a number of Piedmont students, faculty, and parents who made the long journey to Albany to support the drama group. The school last one back to back state one-act play titles in 2010 and 2011, the same years that the Piedmont football team also won back to back titles.

These one-act students are cheering on the gridiron Cougars tomorrow night as they, too, seek to earn a third state title.