Park Earns Second Place in One Act Finals

February 6, 2010 • written by Samantha Hartfiel

     After a month of intense practices, hours of memorizing lines, and days of perfecting every detail, Park High School’s production of “Flaming Idiots” was ready for the annual One Act Competition. This competition is an opportunity for all of the schools in the Minnesota State High School League to compete and see who can put on the best One Act performance.  This year, Park chose to present “Flaming Idiots”, a comedy about two ambitious men who attempt to start their own restaurant. However, as soon as Phil, played by senior Jack McMahon, and Carl, played by senior Thomas Lankow, begin running the restaurant, mishap after mishap occur. From hiring a melodramatic waiter named Eugene, played by senior Sam Salwasser, to hiring a hit man, played by junior Dorsey Sprouls, to boost business, the two men cannot seem to catch a break.  Ultimately, the mixture of witty phrases and slapstick humor made “Flaming Idiots” an enjoyable play.

                A lot of enthusiasm met Park High School’s performance of “Flaming Idiots”. First, on January 20 during the evening of One Acts hosted by East Ridge High School, audience members laughed uproariously at the show.  

                “It was ridiculously awesome,” grinned junior Logan Greene, “It was hilarious and far exceeded expectations.”  Other Park students, such as Nikki Soler and Ann Haering also agreed, saying that the performance was very funny.

                Then on January 26, Park performed the comedy in front of judges in the prelims, against Woodbury’s dramatic performance of “Crimes of the Heart” and East Ridge’s bleak play “Dracula.” At the end of the night, Park had received all ones from the judges, meaning that they had done the best. Therefore, the seven actors went into the section finals with some added confidence.

                The section finals took place on February 3 in Park’s auditorium.  These performances had increased pressure because whoever won would proceed to the State competition on February 11.  Park competed against Eagan and Tartan in the section finals, with the winner advancing to state. Unfortunately, Park received second place to Eagan’s “Aftermath”, which was a drama about an Iraqi family’s reaction to the war that was occurring in their country.

                “Eagan’s play was very good,” stated one anonymous audience member, “At one point an actor was asking the audience ‘Why did you kill my family?’ and I actually felt guilty. It was very moving. ”

                However, while “Flaming Idiots” did not make it to State, the cast has a lot of which to be proud.  The comedy was cast impeccably and the actors provided many laughs for the audience. Senior Erica Ashleson, who played a deaf cook, was excellent at portraying a humorous character by using only body language and facial expressions, senior Sam Salwasser was wonderful at dramatic entrances, exits, and poses, and Thomas Lankow was exceptional at being the naïve and somewhat dense sidekick. The entirety of the cast shared a good amount of laughs and represented Park very well despite the title of “Flaming Idiots.”

Filed Under Arts and Academics, Theater Arts
Tagged:  

 Email This Story        Print This Story