Thespian Troupe #1966
Temple High School, Temple TX

Temple High School's one-act play team has arrived in Austin to compete in the State Championship Contest at Bass Concert Hall on Saturday, May 8, at 4 p.m.

Because it is the 100th anniversary of the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the printed program features color photograhs of each of the schools in the competition. A photo of Temple's page from the souvenir program is shown at right.

Thursday (May 6) after checking into the hotel, the team attended four of the 3A conference one-act plays. This gave the team a chance to check out Bass Concert Hall, where they will be competing, and listen to the acoustics of the room. The group saw Up by Seminole High, Paganini by Waco Connally, Hamlet by Wimberley High and Kentucky Cycle: Fire in the Hole by Wichita Falls Hirschi High.

Friday morning, the group performed their show at Southwestern University in Georgetown. They also watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Atascocita High, directed by Temple High graduate Rod Sheffield. Atascocita immediately follows Temple in the competition, so Temple would not have gotten to see their show since the students will be outside loading the truck immediately following Temple's performance.

Friday the group saw four plays from the 4A conference competition, including Gunfighter: A Gulf War Chronicle by Friendswood High, Fortinbras by Denison High, The Beggar's Opera by Waxahachie High and The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill High.

Parent volunteers did a terrific job of decorating the hotel room doors and providing goodie baskets for every team member in the hotel rooms. (See the photo at the left)

Parents also gave the team a great send-off luncheon Thursday. Temple Mayor Bill Jones presented a proclamation, and Dr. Robin Battershell (Superintendent), Jason Bullock (Principal) and many other spoke before the team boarded the bus for Austin. Many people from the Freeman Heights service center came outside, holding signs, as the bus left town.

While having dinner Friday evening at Baby Acapulco, an amazing thing happened. A man (that no one in the group knew) came over and said congratulations on your school's success and I've just paid the bill here tonight for your entire group. (We found out the bill came to $516.) The man and his wife accepted an invitation from the students to come see Temple perform on Saturday.

The bus leaves from the hotel Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. to go to Bass Concert Hall and unload the truck, attend a group meeting with all eight competing schools, and have a 45-minute practice session of the Bass stage. The Temple state design finalists will hear the judge's critique of their work at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

State contest headshots of the team members have been added to our Snapfish photo group. We'll also be adding some photos from the Austin experience.