On the weekend of Oct.23, the One Act cast traveled to Norfolk to compete in the Virginia Theatre Association competition. The event has 57 high schools being judged. The teams act out their performance in separate rooms to a group of judges, then the judges decide which of the 57 teams advance to the finals. The six teams that make it to finals perform again, and the top two advance to the next stage.  The team has been practicing from 3:00 to 5:30 every day since September. Junior Stage Manager Ryan Doerr believes that the Streaks can go the distance.

“I think we have potential to do very well based on how well we did at the public performance,” Doerr said. “The response was fairly positive. We had a lot of people tell us it was the best show we’ve done.”

This event is different from what the team is used to. The VTA competition now has different rules and guidelines the team must follow, such as a different time limit. With one of the youngest groups in recent HHS history, the team believes that there are a lot of obstacles to overcome. Eleanor Alger, a junior cast member, knows the younger team might have some troubles.

“Lack of experience has definitely played into it,” Alger said. “It took us awhile, but we got to a point where we had really good stage chemistry together.”

Alongside a younger cast, the team has a smaller cast unlike years past. Others might see that as a downside, but Alger thinks otherwise.

“It’s good having a smaller cast,” Alger said. “It helps with the big time constraint [in place].”

Another struggle the team had was having part of their cast playing hypothetical characters, which makes planning for their role increasingly difficult.

“[The furies] are a much more abstract concept than the rest of the characters,” Doerr said. “There’s so much more that we can do with them, and we haven’t quite figured out where the balance is.”

Jaymie Inouye, the only senior on the team, took the lead role heading into the competition. She always remains on stage with her role, giving her no breaks during the show.

“It’s challenging in the aspect that I can never relax,” Inouye said. “I feel more pressure to make the experience something fun for the younger cast members.”

The One Act team made it into the top six, making them one of the finalists. They competed again for the judges but were unable to advance.