Lights, Sound, Action! Two Days of Drama, Direction, and Discovery at ISU’s One-Act Festival

This annual high-energy event combines student competition with hands-on learning, offering workshops in everything from lighting and sound to stage combat, stage makeup, improv, and playwriting. This year, offerings like “Batik on a Budget” allowed students to get creative, while industry-led sessions provided behind-the-scenes insights for students exploring theatre as a future path.

Fifteen schools competed in the One-Act Competition, where students performed short theatrical productions in ISU’s Bistline Theatre. Their performances were evaluated by a panel of nationally and internationally recognized judges from the worlds of theatre, television, and film  

Judges included Sara Hymes, an artist and educator known for her work with The American Shakespeare Center and her commitment to gender equity in the arts; Jamal James, an actor, writer, and voiceover artist with credits ranging from Broadway tours to television shows like “Blue Bloods” and “Gotham;” and Gregory Phelps, an actor-musician with extensive stage and TV credits, including his work with the American Shakespeare Center and appearances on “The Food That Built America.” Together, they brought their wealth of experience to the event, offering invaluable feedback to the student performers.

2024 One-Act Competition Award Winners

Best of Show

• Century High School – The Yellow Boat

Top Three One-Acts (listed alphabetically)

• American Falls High School – Bathtime is Fun
• Emmett High School – Fire Exit
• Skyline High School – The Birds

Best Leading Performers

• • Alley Isbell – Emmett High School
  • Brooklyn Buford – Century High School

Best Supporting Performers

• Rebecca Winward – Highland High School
• Noah Nocols – Bonners Ferry High School

Best Ensemble

• Century High School
  
  

Tech Olympics Winner

• Blackfoot High School
  
  

All-Star Cast Medallion Recipients

• Henli Bosh – Canyon Ridge High School
• Aidan Watrous – Skyline High School
• Brooklyn Bernard – Emmett High School
• Avery Beasley – American Falls High School
• Ezra Harward – Highland High School
• Erik Rudy – Skyview High School
• Zamora Collett – Bonners Ferry High School
• Allie Evans – Century High School
• Lily Jackson – Snake River High School
• Ansley Weaver – Blackfoot High School
• Millie Hashagan – Thunder Ridge High School
• Mia Shumway – Idaho Falls High School
• Cassidy Thompson – Rigby High School

Elena Winward, an ISU junior theatre major and former participant of One-Acts while in high school, now volunteers at the event. This year she had the opportunity to help teach two workshops in musical theatre.

“I love One-Acts!” Winward says. “I was a student participating in One-Acts once upon a time and everything I heard in the workshops I just ate up. I loved everything they had to teach me.”

Now Winward says she loves talking with so many students who have the same passion as she does. “I was in their shoes once,” she says, “so I’m able to express what I have to offer to these students and understand what they’re going through, how much excitement is in their boots. These students make me feel like my work is valuable.”

The energy was palpable throughout the Stephens Performing Arts Center as students prepared to perform, engaged in hands-on activities, practiced stage makeup techniques, and competed in fun games like the Tech Olympics.

Jay Haskell, a senior from Rigby High School, has been involved in One-Acts for several years, including assistant directing last year’s first-place performance. This year, she helped direct a more serious piece performed by their 24 person cast, Letters by Mrs. Evelyn Merrit, about soldiers writing home from war.

“My grandpa was in the Vietnam war and he passed away recently. I really wanted to do this for him,” Haskell says. “It’s so fun to be able to be here with costumes and props and bring it to a stage where students can watch.”

Throughout the event, students filled the halls with laughter, creativity, and collaboration. Century High School (CHS) juniors Emma Hitchcock and Allisa Young participated in sound and lighting workshops and plan to take their new skills back to their own school productions.

Hitchcock says, “I learned how cool the boards are, how to cue lights and sounds. I didn’t even know you could cue sounds! We have a similar board at CHS. Knowing what all the buttons do now, I can fix it.”

Young says learning how to deal with mic feedback problems and reception issues will be very useful information to take back to Century High School.

Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, Tara Young says, "This festival isn’t just about performance—it’s about discovering your voice, identifying as artists, and realizing that theatre is a space where every role, on stage or behind the scenes, matters. Watching these students light up with passion reminds us why we do what we do.”