On December 5, the HHS Stage Streaks traveled to Monticello High School in Charlottesville to compete for a state championship in the Virginia High School League (VHSL) one act competition. They competed against Jefferson Forest, Great Bridge and Lafayette for the title. It was the fifth consecutive year that HHS has advanced to states.

Although both original and musical shows tend to do poorly on a competition level, the cast and crew of “That Was Then” placed first, with three out of four of the Best Actor awards, given to junior Julie Hedrick and seniors Eleanor Alger and Noelle Warne.

Director Stanley Swartz was overjoyed by the result.

“The most exciting thing for me is the fact that we’ve swept every competition in first place,” Swartz said. “This has never happened to us before. It’s truly the icing on the cake.”

For co-authors of the show, seniors Eleanor Alger and Genevieve Cowardin, the victory is even sweeter.

“I am so thrilled that we won. I’m happy that my four years in one act have ended on such a high note; it was great to see the show and the cast get so much positive recognition. I was nervous going into states because the competition is much steeper, but it’s validating to win in that venue as well because it means that the effort we’ve put into the show has been noticed,” Alger said.

“I have a lot of memories at states,” Cowardin said. “We’ve been there all four years of my high school career, and [Monticello High School] holds a lot of emotions for me. Performing in that space again—and winning—my senior year was a really important moment for me.”

Alger and Cowardin both portray the show’s main character, Betty Jo, along with freshman Kate Cummings, in different parts of her life. Cummings plays Young Betty Jo, Alger plays Middle Betty Jo and Cowardin plays Old Betty Jo.

For Cummings, this run was especially important.

“Our projection was a note judges had given us before, and this time we did it better than we’ve ever done before, especially in such a large auditorium. It felt like all the things we’d been working on finally came together,” Cummings said.

The character of Betty Jo is both dynamic and emotionally demanding for the trio, as she endures physical and sexual abuse, a substance-abusing father and the consequences of having to uproot her life and run from her home at 15.

For all three actresses, the road to states has not been easy.

“It’s been a constant struggle, trying to create a character that will do the story justice. I  wanted to make sure that [Betty Jo] was both believable and dynamic to the audience. [The role] took an emotional toll on me, but the support system we have in the cast helped me overcome the darkness in the show,” Cummings said.

“It’s been an emotional release for me. I can take all of my negative feelings or from the day and channel them into this role, because it’s so heavy. It’s cathartic, because even though my character deals with a lot of darkness she sees a lot of light at the end of the show,” Alger said.

“It’s a very heavy topic and it’s a very heavy character. A lot of this stuff we haven’t dealt with before in our lives, and hopefully never will; taking that on is pretty strenuous. But having the support of the cast, directors and my family especially has kept me healthy throughout this process,” Cowardin said.

Co-author and Assistant Director Susan Comfort has watched this emotional transformation since the show’s first stages, and is thoroughly impressed with the development that all three girls have shown, as well as the rest of the cast.

“I’ve seen them get very close to each other both as actors and personal friends. Theatre and performance isn’t just about memorizing lines and blocking, it’s about listening and connecting with the other actors, and they know this well. They’ve grown and developed more and more with each performance, and that has really added to the quality of the show,” Comfort said.

For both Comfort and Swartz, they believe this level of emotion will be an asset in competition at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) the cast and crew will be traveling to in early March of next year.

“Because the cast has been so involved in the writing process, they’re very invested in the show. I really think that aspect of the show is going to help us in competition,” Swartz said.

“I had a feeling we would win VTA [Virginia Theatre Association Conference], because this is such a powerful story and the cast treats it with such respect. They honor the honesty of the story and all the other Betty Jo’s out there. I’m hoping SETC will be the same way,” Comfort said.

This competition was the last to take place in the VHSL season. It will be the last performance of the show until the Stage Streaks hold their final fundraising performance in late February, before they travel to Lexington, Kentucky for the Southeastern Theatre Conference.

SETC is the largest regional theatre conference in the country, and will include 19 other schools from ten states. “That Was Then” will be competing for the champion title, and will be representing the state of Virginia along with Rock Ridge High School.