Savannah school claims One-Act state championship — the first in school history. 'It was crazy'

Toward the end of the play “Peter and the Starcatcher” the character Black Stache says to the boy that would come to be known as Peter Pan, “Time will be our treasure.”

Savannah Country Day School’s (SCDS) theater department is treasuring this time as its students celebrate their Georgia High School Association (GHSA) One-Act Play State Championship on Nov. 18. SCDS claimed the top honors among the eight regional champs competing under the AAA classification, which is based on school population size.

The school's production of the play is based on the 2004 novel “Peter and the Starcatchers” by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. It was adapted for the stage by Rick Elice and first premiered in 2009. The novel and the play provide the backstories for Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Mrs. Darling.

SCDS Upper School Theatre Arts Teacher and Director of Fine and Performing Arts James Venhaus said, “Audiences embrace it because they know, or they think they know, the story and then we hit them with a few surprises.”

What might not have been a surprise was SCDS’s appearance at the state competition. “This was the 16th year in a row that we've qualified for state,” said Venhaus, who only started teaching at the private school this past year and took home a best director award at the regional level. “But it’s the first win in school history."

Young stars on the rise

When the troupe first won at Regionals on Oct. 21, SCDS also won every major individual award, including Best Actress Mollie Macfayden, Best Actor Daniel Bosch, Best Director James Venhaus, and All Star Cast Ben Templeton and Silas Johnson.

At the state competition not only did the cast secure the overall win, Macfayden, a junior, walked away with the Best Actress award for her role as Molly Astor (who eventually becomes Mrs. Darling, Wendy’s mom). Her fellow thespians, Bosch (a junior who played Boy, eventually known as Peter Pan) and Templeton (a senior who played Black Stache, eventually Captain Hook) took home individual All-star cast awards, as well. Venhaus explained that All-Star cast is “kind of the supporting actor category.”

As a senior, Templeton has been auditioning in the college circuit and currently has had 13 callbacks. Macfayden and Bosch have been meeting with college counselors in anticipation of next year.

The Savannah Morning News had an opportunity to sit down with the Macfayden, Templeton, and Bosch as the sheen of their win gave way to working on the school’s next show, "Brightstar," a musical written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. Venhaus also joined in the conversation.

SMN: What was it like winning the awards and taking home the best overall performance?

Templeton: It was crazy. I'm a senior right now. It was awesome to actually have that one final chance, and it was able to be an actual win with all the friends that I have had since my freshman year.

Bosch: I wasn't surprised that we won, but I also was a little bit surprised. Usually big musicals come in and win with their glamour.

Venhaus: It is eight winners of their region competing against one another, so they're all good, but if the judges like musicals, then we're going to be third and if they like plays with heart that tell a real story, then we might be first. If they like experimental puppetry, which there was a brilliant show that was sort of this French experimental thing, then we're going to be fifth or sixth. We didn't know where we're going to land, but we knew we had a good show.

SMN: As upperclassmen, did you all find yourselves in a leadership role with the freshman and sophomores as you worked toward this achievement?

Macfayden: I'd say we have such a community at the Country Day theater program and everyone is so bonded with everyone else that we all end up learning from each other.

Bosch: I'm sure they learned a thing or two. I learned a whole bunch from them, too. All the underclassmen who played narrators and other roles…it was great to interact with them, craft the story and see their opinions on things.

Venhaus: [interjected] They’re being humble about their leadership because I don't think they know they're doing it, but they lead by example. They’re on time, their lines are memorized and they're giving 100% at every rehearsal.

SMN: What was most challenging for each of you with your roles?

Macfayden: Molly is very serious. She’s 13 but tells the boys that she’s 15. She’s a leader and so, it was hard to find the moments to make it comedic. Mr. Venhaus was a great help with me finding where Molly could be a little younger and finding times, even when she was being serious, that it could be comedic.

Templeton: The lines were written so funny already that it if I just played into it a little bit, it is so funny. But it was a challenge to dig into the comedic side for me.

Bosch: Peter can be a really whiny kid, but you have to make the audience relate to him. He has this one monologue where he talks about how he can't sleep at night because he's picturing a better world to live in. Everyone in the audience can relate to not being able to sleep and wanting to live in a better world.

SMN: What has it been like getting all this attention now that you have won?

Macfayden: It is kind of nerve-wracking for next year's competition, because now there’s this pressure. Best actress at regionals, best actress at state, so it is like ‘what's going to happen next year?’ But, in general, it's more of an excitement that we've accomplished this, and everyone is celebrating with us.

The next act

As of now there are no plans for an encore presentation of SCDS’s version of ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ despite many requests. The set has been broken down and the theater department is on to the next show, which will have the students competing in the Shuler Hensley Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards (GHSMTA).

Venhaus expressed, though, that since the state championship was SCDS’s first, “The students are going to get letter jackets, which we've never done before. We're doing a dinner in honor of the parents' commitment and we've discussed a banner in the gym or the theater.”

The consensus among the students seemed to be that the real treasure was the time they spent and continue to spend to together while it lasts, as is the lesson gleaned from Molly's and Peter’s story. A message fit for high schoolers on the cusp of a new chapter all their own.

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Country Day School's wins One Act state championship