Wizard of Oz Spotted in Newcastle
Newcastle Independent School District’s One Act Play recently was in full swing and successful at the District competition. NISD’s performance this year is based on a version of “The Wizard of Oz,” entitled “OZ” by Don Zolidis. The Newcastle troupe recently competed at District and will be moving on to Bi-District competition.
District awards for NISD were: Best sound technician - Cole Phillips; Honorable Mention All- Star Cast- Jessa Burk and Emma Hawkins; and All-Star Cast - Lynlee Terrell. The members of the NISD One Act Play are: (Cast) Beth: Lynlee Terrell; Mother/Glinda the Good Witch: Allison Purvis; Aunt Carol/The Witch: Aubree Clayton; Uncle Jason/The Wizard: Lucas Owen; The Guide/Jill: Tori Lee Duffield; Munchkin Mayor/Munchkin Guard: Emma Hawkins; Lion: Jessa Burk; Scarecrow: Ashleigh Taylor; Tin Man: Grace Ogari. (Ensemble) Jazmine Hammond, Dylan Johnson, Cowen Rogers and Vera Perevala. (Crew) Stage Manager: Justice Johnson; Sound: Cole Phillips; and Lights: Autumn Murphy. (Directors) Kem Forbus, Courtney Bozeman and Taylor Hager.
The synopsis of the play is: Reeling from her sister’s death, Beth suddenly finds herself journeying through a world suspiciously resembling the film, “The Wizard of Oz.” But with the yellow brick road sold to foreign investors after a financial meltdown, the Scarecrow reveling in his ignorant bliss, the Cowardly Lion acting like a paranoid sociopath, and the Tin Man embracing his emotional numbness, Beth wonders what role she plays in his classic story, gone awry. A hilarious and heart-wrenching exploration of grief and perseverance on the road to acceptance.
“The OAP play gives students an opportunity to explore their creative side, it gives them an opportunity to explore worlds that they might not ever encounter on their own,” Ms. Forbus, NISD teacher and OAP director, said. “It gets them to experience and to understand different types of people and different walks of life and it gives them an opportunity to really discover talents that they might not have known they had or things that they might have not even done that they enjoyed.”