Local students compete in state theatrical design competition
“Macbeth,” set in Mexico with 16th-century conquistadors challenging the Aztec empire, could help a group of four thespians from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts bring home a state championship from next week’s University Interscholastic League theatrical design contest in Austin.
Five more HSPVA students hope to claim individual honors in costume, set and/or hair and makeup design at the May 23-25 meet at the University of Texas, where Carnegie Vanguard High’s theater company will compete for the 6A state UIL oneact play competition with scenes from Andrew Bovell’s 2002 drama “Holy Day.”
In 2014, Carnegie Vanguard claimed the state’s top prize with a production of Bovell’s challenging 1999 play “When the Rain Stops Falling.”
Eleven groups qualified as finalists in Division 2, comprised of the state’s more populous schools, with each of four group members focusing on either costumes, set design, publicity or hair and makeup for a hypothetical “League High School” production of “Macbeth” in which the time and/or setting changed from William Shakespeare’s original script.
HSPVA’s advancing group includes junior Meagan Fahy and seniors Zoe Caballero, Gina Cook and Malia Nellums, said their teacher, Paul Davis.
“Before we began our design endeavor, we learned about conquistadors in history class,” said Fahy, 17, who won first place in state last year for
individual costume design.
“We did research online and studied books to find parallels between the period and the play.”
Her parents are John Fahy of West University Place and Stacy Faught of Montrose.
“The set is an Aztec temple with steps, a staircase and lots of levels that were inspired by the power struggle in the play,” said Caballero, 18, who will pursue a degree in scenic design at Western University in St. Louis, Mo. She is the daughter of Amos and Shawn Caballero.
Nellums, 18, designed braids for the character of Lady Macbeth, showed how the faces of characters would age as the play progressed and produced “fake blood” for a sorceress in the play.
The daughter of Wayne and Lisa Nellums of Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood said she will take a “gap year” following graduation.
Gina Cook, 18, designed a publicity campaign for the Aztec “Macbeth” that proposed the sale of temporary tattoos of an Aztec headdress.
Her parents are Steve and Pamela Promecene Cook of Meyerland. She will seek a degree in the interdisciplinary honors program in the College of Arts and Science at Loyola University in Chicago.
Individual competitors
HSPVA student Anna White is a state finalist in costume design.
In addition, Paris Bezanis of the Heights and Madeleine Reid of Oak Forest will compete with their set designs, and Meagan Jaynes of the Heights and downtown’s Josh Wyatt will contend in hair and makeup design.
One-act play results
Carnegie Vanguard advanced to state from 6A Region III competition, where it claimed the best crew title, Isabela Vazquez was singled out for technical achievement and Westbury junior Jackson Burnham won best actor. All-star cast honors went to Cyrus Shafiei and Anastasia Vayner, and Viviana Collymore and Gebriella Hailermariam earned honorable mention all-star cast. More than 14,000 Texas high school students performed more than 1,000 plays in more than 300 contests, en route to the state finals.