There’s only one thing more infamous than “break a leg” or “M*cbeth” in the Nebraska high school theater world, and that’s Gretna one-act director, Carole Carraher.
Her one-act play directing career began in 1985 at Gretna High School, where she garnered 29 Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) State Play Production Championship titles and created the most successful play production program in Nebraska history before her retirement in 2022.
However, even decades after starting her career, Carraher can still recall nearly every detail of each of her 36 productions. She remembers which students stood out, her favorite parts of the scripts, what worked, or what didn’t and what she loved about each of them. And she still believes that winning a state title “never gets old.”
But, ever after all of this, she still finds the praise slightly strange.
“It feels kind of weird in the sense that I am no different than any person on this earth,” she said. “I’m not that special. I’m just like everybody else. It just happened. We got the ball rolling, we figured out how to make it work, and the kids got on board.”
Carraher began teaching at West Holt High School in Atkinson, Neb., after graduating from Kearney State College (now University of Nebraska Kearney) in 1982. Then, her sister encouraged her to apply for an English teacher position in Gretna three years later, where she “fell in love” with the school.
Her first year at Gretna High, she dove straight into the one-act program.
“I loved it from early on,” she said. “I was scared to death to do it, but you just do it, because that’s your job. I learned to love taking the words on the page and bringing them to life on stage. And I love the process. I love that process of envisioning it when you’re reading a play. And I love the creative process of making words come to life, so I fell in love with it.”
However, Gretna’s 34-year legacy of state wins didn’t start immediately.
In the five years before Carraher’s arrival, the Gretna High one-act program saw five different directors.
“There was this core of kids who wanted to do it [have a one-act program], but there was no consistency,” Carraher said. “When I got here, there was nothing; our kids didn’t know anything, and mostly, they didn’t believe that they could be good.”
But Carraher didn’t buy that; she always believed in their potential.
“It was not their fault, but because we had so much transition in this position, they thought that if they got fourth or fifth in the district tournaments, that was good enough,” she said. “I really remember fighting that and saying, ‘No, you kids are so good, we can do better.’”
From there, her fight for excellence continued, as she focused on recruiting students to participate and grow the program.
“The very first year was a play called ‘Asylum,’ and it needed ten kids. Only eight auditioned. So I went back to my classes the next day and begged kids to come out,” she said.
After recruiting enough students to fill all the roles, “Asylum” placed third at State for Class B in 1985, marking her first solo directing win.
The next year, their play, “Nicholas Nickelby,” placed third in Class B again.
Gretna’s one-act dynasty was beginning to take shape; however, Carraher wasn’t satisfied.
“I was frustrated at getting third,” Carraher said. “The kids were like, ‘It’s good enough.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s not.’”
Carraher kept that spirit and came back in 1987 with her eye on the prize. The group’s performance of their show, “And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson,” earned them the state championship title for the first time in Gretna’s history that year. After that, she was hungry for more.
“I knew early on, because those kids were just gunning and going for it, we were gonna win again [next year],” Carraher said. “We were gonna be there, and we were gonna be good enough to win again. And they were like, ‘We can’t win again.’ And I’m like, ‘Why not?’”
Although this spirit undoubtedly drove the program’s early success, she attributes it to the students.
“They didn’t believe they could win two years in a row. And then we won again. That just started the ball rolling,” Carraher said. “It was about getting that belief, because the kids are always there. The kids are always there. Kids are kids at any school, and they will do exactly what you want them to do or ask them and expect them to do, plus more, over and over and over.”
But her wins weren’t accidental. Carraher had a method to her madness.
“I believe that I’m a non-conventional director in that I wasn’t formally trained,” she said. “I did some drama while I was in college, and in high school, but I think that I have a good eye for seeing what works and what doesn’t. I also have a good ear, because I can help kids sound believable. I think that my directing style is upbeat.”
Her success was also a result of her humble attitude.
“I’m not afraid ever to say, ‘Yeah, I don’t have this figured out yet’ or ‘We have to table this and try tomorrow, because I don’t have it in my head yet.’ Once I get it in my head, I can usually get it onto the stage, but sometimes even I struggle with it,” Carraher said.
Carraher, who, for her work and dedication to Nebraska theater, won the 2022 NSAA Outstanding Theater Educator award, would even immerse herself in the audience for ideal feedback.
“When we did community shows, I would stand out there with the audience and listen to five-year-olds and 85-year-olds saying, ‘I think you should try this’ or ‘This character doesn’t quite work.’ Because I think we can all be directors. Everybody from five years old to 85 has something that they feel about a play. And so I was so willing to listen to everybody and really think that I did a good job of making one-act a community effort, not just ‘I’m the director, and I know everything.’”
Now, Carraher spends her time in a different kind of audience. Since 2023, she has worked as an assistant director to both the Gretna and Gretna East one-act productions, which, combined, have garnered three state titles in the last three years.
The one-act program “takes [Carraher’s] wisdom wherever they can,” Gretna East one-act director, Nicole Schlautman, said.
Gretna East senior Adelaide Horst attests to that sentiment, recalling how Carraher’s expertise helped shape this year’s show, “You Can’t Take it With You”.
Horst explained how, during a run-through of the final scene, Carraher sat in the audience, quietly whispering to the other directors. Then, she suddenly stopped the rehearsal. “What if, on your line, you have a snake and wave it through the air like a lasso? Just try it, just try it,” she told Horst. That moment and Horst became one of the biggest laughs of the show, but that wasn’t her only influence on the play.
“Mrs. Carraher was awesome to work with,” junior Caden Campbell said. “She always had amazing suggestions on how to improve the one-act. I remember specifically her working on the ensemble to improve their reaction to the Kirbys’ argument. It completely changed the way the scene played in the best way. It was just an overall fun and amazing experience, and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to work with her.”
Her work with both schools’ programs paid off at this year’s NSAA Class A Play Production Championship, where her teams clinched the top two awards. Gretna East took first place, and Gretna High took second with their show, “The Hangings At Mercy Hollow.” Additionally, Gretna East senior Jackson Omel and Gretna High senior Roxy Lightle took home the two Outstanding Performer awards.
“I’ve been waiting for first and second,” Carraher said. “At first, I was like, ‘It’s about time,’ but I am so proud and so, so happy. Both of them were very, very complete productions. Lovely costumes, lovely sets, great staging and the vocal and physical characterizations were certainly the top two in the state– absolutely hands down.”
Aside from Carraher’s involvement in both programs, she holds a special connection with Schlautman, who is a former one-act actress of hers.
“It was always my dream to work with Nicole,” she said. “She was a star. She was so good in high school, she was the best actress in the state. We always dreamt that we’d come back to Gretna and do it [one act], and I’d help. We started dreaming this when she was in high school.”
Schlautman (formerly Carraher) is distantly related to Carraher, but Schlautman describes her as “always like a second mom during one act.”
“Working with Carole is my dream too,” Schlautman said. “She was such an inspiration to me when I was in high school, and she is still mentoring me now — I learn from her every time I work with her, and she’s a joy to work with. It’s an honor to be in the position to carry on the legacy of the Gretna one-act program. I still look to her for guidance, and I am honored to be able to lead the program at East.”
Gretna High’s director, Brooke Meador, is also a former student of Carraher.
“They are both great directors,” Carraher said. “It’s so fun for me. I have the opportunity to do both [one-acts]. How’s that? It’s been my dream to get to do this, and it’s coming true doubly with two schools. I’m just so happy and so thankful that both of them will keep me on, because I really love doing this.”
Although she now takes a more subtle role as an assistant director, her impact is undoubtedly still prevalent and will remain for decades to come as her lessons, passion, knowledge and love of play production will carry on through generations of Gretna students.
“I have taught and directed two generations of Gretna kids,” she said. “I’m really proud of that. Not very many people can say they’ve done that. Nobody stays put – nobody stays put, and I stayed put.”
