One-act play earns 2nd at UIL contest

Brianna (Olivia Mowrey-Frantz) and Maggie (Summer Brown) meet and talk through a knothole in the fence of Maggie’s grandmother’s backyard.

The Troup Middle School one-act play earned a second place at UIL contest, with each cast member also winning an individual medal.

“The girls all worked very hard on this play, giving up afternoons and even Saturdays to practice,” said Linda Salgado, co-director of “In the Garden of the Selfish Giant.”

Salgado, a sixth-grade math teacher at TMS, co-directed with Pam Starkey, art instructor.

Written by Sandra Fenichel Asher, the play is about 11- year-old Maggie (played by Summer Brown) who is staying with her mother Susan (Summer Freeman) at the home of her grandmother, who is critically ill.

Maggie is befriended by Brianna (Olivia Mowrey- Frantz), a precocious nineyear old, who helps bring Maggie out of self-imposed seclusion in her grandmother’s backyard.

Freeman, Brown and Mowrey-Frantz were named to the All-Star Cast at competition, with Sherra Reid (as grandmother’s nurse Allison) earning an honorable mention medal.

Members of the cast and crew of “In the Garden of the Selfish Giant” are (left to right) Keraveon Rodgers, seventh grade; Summer Freeman, seventh; Olivia Mowrey- Frantz, sixth; Summer Brown, sixth; Kayla Crumby, sixth; Neesha Handy, seventh; and Sherra Reid, seventh. “It is a big challenge to overcome nervousness and get on stage in front of a judge, not to mention a group of your peers,” said co-director Linda Salgado. “We are very proud of the kids that take on this challenge and make the commitment of time and energy to the UIL one-act play each year.” Rodgers, Crumby and Handy handled crew duties, including lighting and sound and managing stage props, scenery and curtains.

Crew member Kayla Crumby received an honor crew award. Other members of the crew were Keraveon Rodgers and Neesha Handy.