This Fall, the NC drama program will create and perform a one-act play titled “The Red Velvet Cake War.” The comedic production tells the story of three close-knit cousins trying to host a family reunion amid chaos with rival family members, natural disasters, a lovestruck court-appointed psychologist, and numerous run-ins with law enforcement.
Set in modern-day Texas, the show displays the antics of a hilariously dysfunctional family and focuses on a high-stakes bet over who can bake the superior red velvet cake. The production comes to life due to its eccentric main characters played by NC students of all grade levels. These students include magnet seniors Laila Sain, Olivia Doucette and Zorian Lang, seniors Makenzy Penn and Ray McIntosh, magnet juniors Savannah Rader, Marielle Parker and Chase Wilson, junior Will Gichaala, and sophomore Katelyn Mckoon. They work diligently to personalize the parts they portray by employing characterization techniques, master gestures and specific facial expressions.
“To create my character of Jimmie Wyvette, I researched as many other performances of ‘The Red Velvet Cake War’ as I could. I would take what I loved from some performances and learn from what I did not like about the actors and create my character after that. I then listened to my Southern family to get a grasp of the Southern accent. After that, I added a little of my personality and then I had a new character,” McKoon said.
Auditions took place August 15, and the cast list came out shortly afterwards. The play consists of a main cast of seven women and three men, as well as several understudies and ensemble members. The group began rehearsing in mid-August and they now feel pride and excitement as they prepare to perform the show to audiences.
The cast began the rehearsal process with several read-throughs, in which the group practiced the entire script out loud to familiarize themselves with it. Then, production moved onstage and actors began blocking — a process in which performers learn where and when they need to move, use gestures or shift to certain parts of the stage. Next, the cast needed to fully memorize their scripts so that they could properly show emotion and gestures without a script in their hand. Cast members also worked to improve their accents to ensure that they stayed consistent and accurate.
“Working with and using an accent is definitely a challenge because you have to keep up that accent the entire show. If you drop in and out of it or it’s inconsistent then your character is not gonna be believable. I do really enjoy doing an accent because it’s giving me a lot of experience that I would otherwise not have. I’ve never had to do an accent for a show before so it’s just a new experience and I’m really enjoying it so far,” Sain said.
The theatrical group will perform the play in the NC Performing Arts Center (PAC) October 23, 24 and 25. They will then take the play to the annual One Act Competition, Saturday the 26, this year hosted by Cherokee High School, and compete against other local schools with hopes to advance onto the next level of competition.
Six local schools will compete against NC with one-act plays or musicals while judges take notes on the productions and deliberate on where they want to place each school. Last year, NC won second place with their production of “Play On!,” and the previous year NC won third place with “One Stoplight Town.” The group has gathered a significant amount of experience attending one-act competitions and hopes that they will show further achievements this year.
“I feel that we are going to do well during the One Act Competition. Our show has a lot of charm and character. It is also obvious that we all care for the show and each other. The judges will most likely see everybody’s chemistry with one another and this is something I’m sure we will have the upper hand [against] other schools,” McIntosh said.
