East triumphs at NSAA Play Production Championships: a tale of tradition, tension, first-year success

It has long been a tradition for Gretna High School’s cast and crew to hold each other’s hands by crossing the right arm over the left as judges presented awards for the NSAA Play Production Championships, also known as the state One Act competition. That tradition transcended the split of the schools as members of East’s One Act cast and crew patiently waited at Norfolk High School for the results on Dec. 8 for the 2023 championships.
“Holding hands ‘right over left’ gave us this sense of connection, but it almost heightened my stress,” junior ensemble member Elena Bunker said. “We all wanted the win so badly, but we were also just so proud of all the work we put in this season.”
As they waited and the seconds ticked by, Malcolm High School was announced as the runner-up in Play Production, leaving both the Griffin and Dragon programs uneasy.
“I began feeling sick when they announced that the second-place school wasn’t either of our schools,” freshman member Sophia Cacioppo said. “It was evident that one of the Gretna schools would win because both of our leads won their respective awards. I knew that the victory would go one way or the other.”
Making them even more on edge was the fact that GHS has an extensive One Act history: winning state 28 times in Class A, earning runner-up six times and 29 alumni winning outstanding performances, including GEHS’s current One Act coach, Nicole Schlautman.

It seemed as though time stopped right as the announcers started the announcement of who the champion was with “Gretna,” some of the GHS cast started to stand but were stopped in their tracks as “Gretna” was followed by “East.” The Griffin One Act cast and crew jumped out of their seats and threw their previously linked hands in the air as faces of disbelief watched.
“I didn’t think we could have won, but when they called ‘Gretna East High School’ the State Champions, I jumped up from my seat, and everyone else was cheering and jumping and hugging the people around me. It was amazing for us to win, especially as a first-year school with no seniors,” Horst said.
The Griffin’s production of “Lend Me A Tenor” ended with two 60-point scores from the judges and one 59-point score, adding up to 179 points as the victor. Along with placing first in Play Production, One Act won the Outstanding Technical Crew award, which recognizes excellence in set design, lights and time for putting up and tearing down the set.
“Our first time putting the setup, we put it up in 18 minutes and 65 seconds, then it took about 10 minutes to take it down,” GEHS parent and helper Stacy Wozniak said. “Today, [State] we got the set down in two minutes and 34 seconds, which even the volunteers at Norfolk were surprised by. I’m so proud of our work that made it happen.”
Additionally, junior Colton Knott and GHS senior Maya Huber won Outstanding Male and Female Performers’ respectively.
“They couldn’t have chosen more deserving people,” Schlautman said. “That’s what we’ve been saying since the beginning of the season, that Maya and Colton deserve the Outstanding Performer awards.”
With that, the curtain closed on the first One Act season for the school. To celebrate, those involved ended the day with a celebratory lunch at Pizza Ranch and a two-hour bus ride filled with excited yet tired victors.
“After we won State and came home to our parents cheering for us as the bus came in, it felt like I was on top of the world,” sophomore ensemble member Lydia Contor said.