Those who missed Cape Elizabeth High School’s winter show will get one more chance to see a “lite” version of “Almost, Maine” at this weekend’s One Act Play Festival.

For the second year in a row, Cape Elizabeth High School will host eight other schools at the regional One Act Play Festival.

The two-day event begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Cape students will be performing a shortened version of “Almost, Maine,” a show they put on in full earlier this year. The original show, made up of several short scenes, lasted about an hour and a half. For the festival, they had to cut it down to about 35 minutes, which allowed for four scenes.

According to senior Gina Stevensen, president of the school’s theater council, the performers whose scenes were cut for the festival continued to participate by lending their hands backstage.

“Everyone’s involved,” she said.

And that’s a good thing for Stevensen, who didn’t know how big of a task it would be to coordinate with other schools and host the event. Not only did Stevensen have to arrange for hosts and a snack bar, she also had to organize a dinner and dance on Saturday night for all of the participants. The festival ends on Saturday night with two schools advancing to two state finals.

The event is put on by the Maine Principals Association, and the participating schools are South Portland, Greater Portland Christian, Scarborough, Westbrook, Biddeford, Gorham, Lisbon and Old Orchard Beach.

Last Saturday, the theater technicians from all of the schools got together at the Cape Elizabeth auditorium to go over the technical aspects of their plays.

The participants from South Portland High School will also be performing a shortened version of a longer show, according to drama adviser Beth Gwozdz. The play is called “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” by John Bishop. Gwozdz said that the students themselves made the necessary cuts and even directed the play. “I’m kind of supervising, but I’m letting them handle everything,” Gwozdz said.

Regional festivals like this one are being held all over the state this weekend, where shows are being critiqued by professional judges. But the competitive aspect seems to be a small part of the fun-packed weekend.

“They always love the drama festival,” Gwozdz said.

Representatives from the drama department at Scarborough High School could be reached for information on the one-act play Scaborough students would be performing.

Copy the Story Link