Carver High School’s ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black’ One-Act Play Advances to UIL Regional Contest
The theater troupe’s production of author Lorraine Hansberry’s life is a hit with judges.
The cast and crew of Carver HS’ production of “To Be Young, Gifted and Black: A Portrait of Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words.” Hansberry is known for writing her 1957 play “A Raisin in the Sun.”
[dropcap color=”#888″ type=”square”]T[/dropcap]he Carver High School recently competed at the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]UIL One-Act Play Area Competition. The judges advanced the troupe’s play to the regional contest.
The play is To Be Young, Gifted and Black: A Portrait of Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words. Hansberry is known for writing her 1957 play A Raisin in the Sun. The play made Hansberry the first black author of a show.
A scene from Carver HS’ production of “To Be Young Gifted and Black.”
The regional event is April 23 at [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]San Jacinto College-Central Campus in Pasadena. The contest starts at 12:30 p.m. [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Carver will be the second performance on the schedule.
Individuals interested in seeing the school’s performance should plan to arrive around 1 p.m. The cost of admission is $10. The Carver troupe will kick things off by being the first to perform.
Area Competition Results
Advancing Play — “To Be Young Gifted & Black”
Best Actress — Kiera Prusmack
Honorable Mention — Kevin Crear
Honorable Mention — Ahreon Holly
Honorable Mention — Bishop Pearsall
Best Technical — Louis Butler
Elysa Aguilar, Jaela Amos, Louis Butler, Korrian Carr, Treat Carrier, Kevin Crear, Yamir Ellis, Kassidy Fajardo, Mykaelan Flournoy, Jasmine Garcia, Ivan Geters, Miriam Hernandez, Ahreaile Holly, Ahreon Holly, Ri’Chard Jordan, Je’Qwan Owens, Bishop Pearsall, Kiera Prusmack, Jayla Rhodes, India Sherman, Debrycen Sumuel, Trenten Thomas, Kyle Ward and Arielle Wilson comprised the one-act play company.
The classroom scene from Carver HS’ “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”
Roshunda Jones and Jabari Collins direct the troupe.
Everyone at Carver High School invites the community to attend.
“We are excited to compete at the regional competition,” said Jones. “The students and everyone involved in the one-act play has been incredible.
“We all hope to see community members attend the competition. That would mean so much to the students to see their support. They love to perform before an audience. They feed on moving the audience. And this is a great opportunity for everyone to see these talented students.“
Carver has a strong theater program. The thespian group has a history of nominations and winning awards. The campus advanced to the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]UIL One-Act Play Regional Competition in 2015. The theater program earned nine nominations and four wins in the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]2014 Tommy Tune Awards. The program earned recognition for the musical production In The Heights. In 2013, the troupe earned 12 nominations, including Best Musical, for The Color Purple. The [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]campus collaborated with The Kinkaid School in the 2016 Tommy Tunes Awards competition. Their production of the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]musical “Hairspray” recently received 10 Tommy Tune nominations. Theater Under the Stars will announce the 2016 Tommy Tune winners on April 19.
Congratulations!
Carver High School made [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]U.S. News & World Report‘s Best High Schools in the U.S. 2014 rankings. [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Carver is a magnet school. The campus focuses on engineering, applied technology and the arts.
About the Author: Leticia Fehling
