WHS Drama to Compete at Festival

Whitehall High School’s Drama group has not participated in the Montana Thespian Festival for several years (I believe the last time was in 2009, but can’t be certain). The 2023-2024 WHS drama participants are excited to change that with their entry into competition this year. Thespian Festival is held at the University of Montana in Missoula February 16th - 17th.

As the drama director at WHS, I am very proud of these students and the hard work they’ve put into this play. This is my second year as director - last year I truly wish we had been able to get our one-act The View From Sunset Towers ready in time for the festival - but this year we are ready!

As Thespian Festival falls on the same weekend as Districts Basketball in Manhattan, we know that not many will travel to Missoula for our performance. However, we will be presenting THE CAVE CAT on the WHS stage hopefully by the end of February (it all depends on how our Trojan sporting teams do!)

THE CAVE CAT is a timeless tale with a bit of a twist. The play's theme is the struggle of youth to surmount the established conventions of a society that divides all cats into three rigidly maintained categories.

At the outset, the idealistic young cat (junior Lele Martin) feels that she is a misfit since she does not possess the characteristics of her respectable middle-class "lion" parents (sophomore Addisyn Gray and home-schooler Landon Popalis.

As she struggles to establish her true identity, however, she discovers that these characteristics are only masquerade costume pieces which obscure the fact that all lions, her parents included, are really only plain cats like herself. At the core is the desperate struggle of the individual to maintain integrity under the pressures of social conformity.

As the cave cat makes her way to the truth, she encounters the Lion Chicks (8th grader Lilly Schober and home-schooler Sydalee Jenkins), the Priest Cat (sophomore Jordan Mercer), the tigers Zelma (sophomore Coya Kelley), Zula (8th grader Zoey Lyons, and Ziggy (freshman Jeannette Blazevich), and the Leopard Chick (freshman Allanah Leonti). The play is directed by myself, with 8th grader Ierlyn Kelley serving as stage manager and working the lights, after sophomore Sawyer Osborne had to bow out due to an injury, though he may be able to assist with the local productions.

The play is a one-act and we will have exactly 45 minutes to set up our sets, and lights, and perform at Festival. Please give these kids your love and support if you see them out and about. Nearly all of them participate in sports, volunteer locally, or work jobs outside of school - learning lines for competition is a difficult task and these kids have done an amazing job!

Keep an eye out for an announcement of local performances of THE CAVE CAT at Whitehall High School soon!