Props fill the stage. Actors and actresses run around getting into costume and getting makeup touch ups. It’s time for them to finally put on their show after hours of practicing for this moment. There’s a pit in their stomach before entering the stage, but once they get into character all of it goes away. 

On March 7, Tiger Theatre Company advanced to bi-district with their UIL performance of “The Storm in the Barn” in Hallsville. With awards such as Outstanding Tech Award being given to Carly Hickerson, Honorable Mention All Star Cast for Avery Bullock and All Star Cast to Tyler Unger. 

“It felt really great. It felt like all of the work that we put into it, and that I personally put into the character and rehearsals, had really paid off,” junior Tyler Unger said. “It felt really amazing.” 

Embodying someone else’s looks, mannerisms and personality can be difficult. Especially if they’ve lived completely different lives than the actor, but they must put themselves in their shoes even if they’re playing an 11 year old child.

“This character was especially interesting because it was my first lead character in high school, and I was also playing an 11 year old child, so I had to take a different aspect of realness for him,” Unger said. “I work with kids a lot, especially at church, which caused me to start looking at their mannerisms to put that into the character.”

Proper preparation takes hours upon hours of practice. Not only with lines, but the way you deliver them and what steps you take throughout the show with props and on the stage.

“I’d go home and work through my lines and mark through them and go ‘okay, this is the inflection I want for this section, but we also have a weekly run through.’ Now we are at the point where we just keep running it and drilling it and making sure it’s muscle memory,” Unger said. “We have the great honor of being able to reflect on what the judges have said, and what we feel is best for the show moving forwards. Moving from district to bi-district, we’re able to implement new things we want to do with the show.”

The UIL group competed against Hallsville, Pine Tree, Tyler, Marshall, Whitehouse and Mount Pleasant for bi-district, so they prepared greatly.

“I was really excited because last year we didn’t advance. But this year, our show advanced and it was really exciting,” junior Riley White said. “The preparation was stressful because we had rehearsal every day after school that ran until seven or later.” 

Many people don’t focus on the appearance of characters when watching them perform. Yet, the costumes and accessories in a performance help everything come together and can allow actors to come into their characters.

“I did both costumes, hair, make-up and acting. For each character, I’d do research where I would look up their character types and do time period research,” White said. “It was really fun to act, I only really act in competition season through UIL, so I loved getting to be someone else.”