The annual Mt. Hood Conference acting competition was held in the GHS auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 12. This was the first time in two years the competition was not held at St. Mary’s Academy.

Students in drama from the Mt. Hood Conference all come together for one day to compete in two pieces; a duo scene or a monologue and there are three rounds for each.

Being that the competition was held in the auditorium here, some students felt that it was a definite “home turf” advantage. Junior Lily Cichon commented that it made her feel a lot more confident to perform in a room she was familiar with.

“I definitely felt more powerful and more confident when I performed in rooms that I had a past with,” Cichon said. “It was a definite confidence booster!”

In order to perform for competition students had to find pieces to perform about five weeks ahead of time. After a piece is found the next step would be to more deeply analyze the characters in the scenes.

According to junior Amanda Brainard, this all happens before even performing the scene.

“Most of the work comes from picking pieces you can relate to and will not get bored of since you’re going to be working on them for so long,” Brainard said.

Cichon claimed that she was more prepared for one scene than the other. Although Cichon did not receive awards for her monologues, she did receive a superior mark for her duo scene and is therefore moving on to regionals.

“I did not expect my monologues to get high scores because I had not focused my energy on them,” Cichon said. “I had hoped my duo scene would place in the top ten because we had spent so much time on it.”

Brainard received an honorable mention and is taking her duo scene to regionals along with participating in a group scene.

“I never expect to win anything, but I feel like I did really well this year,” Brainard said.

This year seniors Forrest Davis and Dj Wilson showcased in the competition. Showcasing is winning first place in the overall competition. The duo team received 74 out of the 75 possible points for their performance of “PVT Wars”.

While most think that showcasing is a big deal, Wilson believes otherwise. Wilson claims that showcasing just puts a lot more pressure on him. Wilson commented that by everyone screaming and applauding, it was made a bigger deal than it actually was.

“It requires more of your time and more focus,” Wilson said. “My philosophy is the less you stress the better.”

Wilson would have also showcased for his monologue but was one point away from doing so. Wilson claims that unlike others, he spent little or no time rehearsing for his performances. Wilson was surprised that he showcased because little preparation was put into it.

“I hoped people did not take it too hard [when I showcased]” Wilson said. “They work really hard each year to try and do well. I, however, wing it and often get high scores.”

This is not the first time that Wilson had moved on to regionals. Wilson has gone to regionals the past three years. Wilson thought it seemed likely for him to move on to regionals because of how well he has done in the past.

Overall the drama department did well. Most performers were from Gresham and received the most awards. There were many honorable mentions and over half of the superior scenes in both monologues and duo scenes qualified for regionals.

“Gresham dominated,” Cichon said.

In the end the scores from all three rounds are added up and the top twenty percent from all rounds goes on to regionals.

The drama department is now preparing for the regionals and One Acts. As for Wilson and Davis, they will showcase at the One Acts festival and perform at regionals. Regionals will be Feb. 2 at Milwaukee High School.

While some may be more prepared than others Brainard has only one thing to say, “Bring on regionals!”