The Haines Glacier Bards picked up steam at their Drama, Debate and Forensics meet last weekend in Wrangell, finaling with five pieces and claiming two first-place finishes.
Nine competitors – eight from Haines and one from Klukwan School – traveled to Wrangell for the team’s second meet of the season. They entered 14 pieces.
The Wrangell meet was interesting, said coach Amanda Randles, because like at last month’s home meet, the team scored two first-place finishes. However, they were for pieces that didn’t win at the Haines meet.
Team captain and senior Jennie Humphrey teamed up with junior Zane Durr for the piece “Wedding Duet” in the Duet Acting category. Humphrey and Durr took first place for their performance.
The comedic piece, written by Lauren Wilson, portrays a newlywed couple arguing as they cross the threshold into their bridal suite at a country inn.
“Zane and Jennie decided to turn the piece on its head by switching roles: Jennie plays the beleaguered groom while Zane plays the high-strung bride,” Randles said. “They were given a command performance for the piece Saturday night and the Wrangell audience really enjoyed it.”
The team’s four-person Readers Theater entry “Action News” also took first place. Humphrey and Durr along with juniors Neil Little and Casey Bradford performed the piece, a short spoof on network-style news programs.
“It is a fast-paced charge through fluffy filler pieces interspersed with silly advertisements while ignoring serious news stories,” Randles said.
Little took fifth in Humorous Interpretation for “The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances.” He took first with the same piece at the team’s meet in Haines.
Humphrey took third for her Dramatic Interpretation piece “A Finger, Two Dots, and You.” She also took first with the same piece at an earlier competition.
Little also took fourth-place in Extemporaneous Commentary with a speech on “Lord of the Flies.”
“Our other entries are also doing quite well, despite missing going to finals for various reasons. We’ll tighten those up for our next competition,” Randles said.
The DDF team’s next meet is Dec. 12-13 in Ketchikan.