Teacher helps Zavalla students ‘find their team’ in one-act play in competition

“Kids all have different talents and things they’re looking at for the future,” she said. “Not only is theater a place where kids can come to be creative and be themselves, you turn into a little family within the school. It gives you people to hang out with and be a team with, even if you’re not in sports.”

Theater also teaches kids various skills including public speaking, problem solving and creative thinking, Parrish said.

The process of introducing the UIL One-Act Play contest to students in Zavalla was easy, according to Parrish, because they were just as passionate about it as she was. More students showed up to audition than could be cast in a one-act play, she said.

The UIL One-Act Play contest consists of schools of a similar size presenting an 18-40 minute play to a panel of three judges or to a single judge.

There are six possible levels of competition: zone, district, bi-district, area, region and state. At each level of competition, a judge awards individual acting awards and selects three productions to advance to the next level of competition.

Last year, Zavalla ISD advanced to bi-district, which Parrish said was extremely exciting for a program in its first year.

“It’s been a lot of fun working with these kids,” she said. “They seem to enjoy it, and that makes it more fun for me.”

Junior Jamie Blair and seniors Jacob Quick and Nikolas Brunk are having just as much fun preparing for the contest, and because of their experience in one-act play, all are considering careers in theater.

Jacob said he has always been intrigued by acting and was in the theater program in Huntington ISD before moving to Zavalla.

“When they added it last year, I jumped on the opportunity, and since then I’ve been engulfed by theater,” he said. “I just love everything about it — the acting, the lights, the sound, everything is just amazing.”

Having Parrish as a teacher and a director is a blessing, because not many small school districts have theater programs, let alone good ones, Jacob said.

“We hadn’t had theater since the ’80s, and it’s great for not only us being older students, but for the sophomores and freshmen to have this opportunity,” Nikolas said. “It gives everyone a chance to do something they want to do.”

The students are currently working on a play titled “The Book of Will” by Lauren Gunderson, which not many schools are allowed to perform, but Zavalla ISD got permission from the author, Parrish said. The students even had a Zoom meeting with Gunderson Monday.

“She offered to talk to the kids and was so excited that they were as excited as they are about her play,” Parrish said.

And that’s what Parrish hopes the students take away from participating in a one-act play — an appreciation for the arts.

“Hopefully, it will give them another dimension to their adult lives when they get out of school,” she said. “Even if they don’t do a job related to theater, it can enrich their lives.”