[Story by Emily Hughitt]

EARLY – For the first time in Early High School’s history, the EHS One-Act Play won the UIL Class 3A state championship with their performance of ‘Silent Sky’ at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center.

Caitlyn Tidwell, Theatre director at Early HS, began working with Early’s OAP four years ago. The last three years, Early OAP has lost at the Bi-District Level.

“This year, the students set a goal for themselves to make it to Area, the next level after Bi-District,” Mrs. Tidwell said. “We were really excited to get to Area, but we never dreamed we would keep going.”

Abbygail Diaz, junior at EHS who played Margaret Leavitt, began acting when she was in fourth grade at Cross Classical Academy. She said the feeling of winning state was surreal.

“We couldn’t even comprehend,” Diaz said. “Just being at state was an experience that I never thought I would be able to be a part of. Hearing that we had won was so gratifying and we knew that all of our hard work had paid off. “

Diaz added that her favorite part of being in the play was experimenting with the sister dynamic between her and Andie Tidwell, senior at EHS who played Henrietta Leavitt.

“Both of the characters were very different in what their goals were in life and their aspirations,” Diaz said. “Henrietta wanted to get out into the world and discover more about herself and the world around her. Margaret wanted more of a traditional life, to stay at home and get married and have kids. It was really cool to see their dynamic of how they were different, but also similar.”

Andie’s first role was playing a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz at Brownwood Lyric Theatre at 6 years old. She shared that her favorite part of being in OAP this year was seeing the hope it brought to people.

“We would walk out of where we were performing and people would say ‘Oh you made me cry. It was so good. It was so uplifting,’” Tidwell said. “I feel like it was nice to be a part of something that was hopeful, when so much of life is not.”

Presley Dunlap, senior at EHS and creative assistant who also played the star associated with Margaret, began her theater endeavors in 2016 when she played in Tom Sawyer at Brownwood Lyric Theatre; she has since been in about 20 shows.

Dunlap said that her favorite scene was one she got to watch backstage.

“I wasn’t in this scene, but there was a scene where Henrietta and Peter had a fallout and India Vogt, who played the star associated with Henrietta, and Kaden Bryan, who played the star associated with Peter, did some beautiful choreography. India and Kaden nailed it and made me want to cry every single time,” Dunlap said.

Amber Jones, Assistant OAP director and English teacher at EHS, has been involved in theater for 27 years. She said her favorite thing was the growth she saw in the students and their ability to view hard challenges as opportunities.

“This year there was a refusal to quit from 100% of them,” Jones said. “Even when they got sick, they still showed up. There wasn’t an option to fail. They set a goal and they wanted to reach that goal.”

Jones added that she loved seeing the kindness the students had for each other.

“The kids wanted to be friends with the other teams,” said Jones. “They reached out and encouraged them. They made cards and crafts for them. There wasn’t a negative energy. They set a great example and I’m really proud of them.”