Tension was high one cold Saturday morning while the Wiley and the Hairy Man cast and crew were preparing for their first performance in front of an audience. It just so happened that this audience was also in front of judges.

Luke Socie ‘20 and Haleigh Colombo ‘20 played the two leads of the performance. Colombo played a boy named Wiley living in the wetlands of Louisiana, with Socie playing the Hairy Man who wants to kidnap Wiley. However, the play is called a one act for a reason. The story progresses without a single intermission or blackout.

During rehearsals, the high school’s new director Jason Marlett has been guiding the cast and crew to put on the best show possible. “I was in Grease, and I think that Jason has a lot of differences from [the previous director] Mrs. Steers.” Colombo said. In regards to the change of directors, “There are a lot of positives about Jason, and also about Mrs. Steers. I think right now it’s kind of a transition period between.”

Socie continued to talk about how it felt like perform the one act. “Of course, we were all pretty nervous because it was the first time doing the show in front of an audience, but we heard the reactions from the audience and it sounded like they liked it.”

Both Socie and Colombo say that this was the best show so far this year. The students had a lot of fun putting this one act together, and grew to love the scenes and songs they had the opportunity to learn and perform.

“My favorite part about this play is the really cool scene in an alley where [Wiley] is eating food, and the chorus becomes a table and I get to sit on them. I think it’s just like really fun and cool. It’s just a weird thing but I like it,” Colombo said.

Socie also had a favorite scene. “I really like the opening. Wiley’s having a nightmare and the chorus is kinda being creepy around him.”

All of this led up to the performance in front of the panel of judges in Greenville. Socie, who played the Hairy Man, said “It actually turned out pretty well. Of course, we were all pretty nervous because it was the first time doing the show in front of an audience, but we heard the reactions from the audience and it sounded like they liked it.”

“It really helped, kind of like these practices that we had before our actual performance [for the high school] because now I know that people actually think that it’s funny, and so it’s kind of a booster.” Colombo said.

The cast and crew performed very well for the judges. After that, they got constructive criticism from other directors in the audience. “I was really anxious about meeting the super intense directors but I heard from other people before that they’re cool. They helped us a lot with projection,” Colombo said.

It turned out that the directors were very happy with their work. “We had a lot of positive feedback,” Colombo said. “Everyone there was super nice,” added Socie.

Wiley and the Hairy Man performed Saturday, Feb. 3. They found success as the performance took first place in the festival. When the actors enjoy the material they are performing, they seem to find a way to make it extra special for the audience.