All groups advance to state from district speech

Macy Taylor and Lex Jack perform in Reader’s Theater during dress rehersal on Jan. 5. Reader’s theater is one of eleven groups moving on to Large Group State Speech Contest on Feb. 4.

by Vincent Bushong

The Montezuma Speech and Drama department was in for a big day on Jan. 21. That Saturday marked the Speech and Drama District Large Group Contest at Grinnell High School, and all of Montezuma’s entries moved on to perform at state level.

At the district level, groups are given a rating by a single judge.  They receive oral and written comments from the judge before waiting to find out their rating. If they receive a “I” (one) rating, the group moves on to perform at the state level, where each group is critiqued by a panel of three judges. To move on to the All-State level, which is held at Iowa State University on Feb. 18, at least two of the three judges must give special recognition to the group by nominating them for All-State. 

Speech and Drama coach Derek Bates said, “I am thankful for the sharing of the performers’ talents and how well they represented their school and town.”

After many weeks of practice, the opportunity to perform for judges and  new spectators revitalized the groups and helped to bring out the best in the students.

Senior Speech and Drama member Natalie Wheeler, who is involved in musical theater and choral reading, said of her group’s musical theater performance, “It was our best performance yet.”

There were 11 groups total that performed at districts, including two choral reading groups, three ensemble acting groups, a readers’ theater group, a musical theater group, two improvisation groups, a radio broadcasting group and a short film group. 

On Saturday, Feb. 4, the state competition will take place in Cedar Rapids, at Washington High School, with performances starting at 8:00 A.M.