HARLINGEN — They’re both going to regionals — again.
For the second year in a row, Harlingen High School and Harlingen High School South have advanced to the regional competition for UIL One-Act Play.
Harlingen High School’s “Amadeus” and South’s performance of “Things I Know To Be True” so impressed judges April 2 at the UIL Area 2 6A One-Act Play Contest that they’ve advanced to the UIL Region IV 6A One-Act Play Contest on April 21.
John Reynolds, head director at South, commended his students’ performance in “Things That I Know To Be True,” a musical by Andrew Bovell.
“Honestly I think that these students are some of the best actors in the State of Texas,” Reynolds said. “While that sounds silly to say, I think it’s clear across the board of each performance that it’s very difficult material to handle and they handle it very well.”
Harlingen High School’s “Amadeus” by Peter Shaffer tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his relationship with the fictional character Antonio Salieri.
The 20-cast performance was a “big production,” said HHS Director Christopher Esparza.
“The entire company is truly invested and loves the show of Amadeus so much,” Esparza said. “Amadeus is a story that takes place really in recall of Antonio Salieri’s memory over the ten years in which he met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that led him into madness.”
The young actors at HHS are particularly enthused at their making it to Regionals, as last year was the first time in the school’s history to ever make it that far. Tristan Flores, 18, was in last year’s performance, and he’s eyeing the coveted opportunity this year to advance to state.
“It’s definitely very exciting coming off the success from what we had last year,” said the HHS senior.
“I definitely feel more confident in this show going into Region just because it is so different,” he said. “Our story is just so much more interesting and intricate this year and a lot of effort has been put into it and I am very confident going into Region.”
Harlingen South seniors Aaron Blount and Esmerala Trevino co-star in a piece about a young woman trying to find her place in the world.
Aaron, 17, plays the young woman, who is 19
“She’s the youngest in the family who has been kind of trying to figure herself out for quite some time,” Aaron said. “She goes off to Europe on a self-exploration trip, gets heartbroken, and then comes back and kind of realizes all the hidden problems her family has had.”
Enter the mother, a.k.a Esmeralda Trevino. Esmeralda is 18 but her character is 63.
“She’s very complex,” Esmeralda said. “She really shows all aspects of what it takes to be a mother, both the good and the bad. And this show has a beautiful way of going through all of the tough decisions that a mother has to make.”
Amadeus is a challenging character for Tristan, which he has thoroughly enjoyed.
“It’s fun to be able to play him as a person, not just by his music,” Tristan said. “Not many people know how he was in everyday life.”
And how was he? A brilliant musician publicly, but letters written by and about him show something else.
“His music sounds so sophisticated, but he was actually quite immature himself,” Tristan said. “Mostly it’s just him making some inappropriate remarks about some of the court members and him using some fart jokes throughout his letters.”
Benjamin Trevino, 17, plays the fictitious Antonio Salieri, who is sick with jealousy of Amadeus.
Benjamin describes Salieri as a composer who lives a virtuous life and prays to God regularly. He travels to Vienna to be a great composer for the Austrian emperor. Things are going well until Mozart arrives on the scene.
“Mozart is a man who lives his life without any virtue and without the word of God but is still ten times better than what Salieri could have ever been,” Benjamin said. “He then begs the question, ‘Why have you given Mozart all of this talent and why have you given me none?’”
