The cast of Performance In the Round from Richards High School took second place at the IHSA state speech finals on Saturday. They competed against 17 other schools from around Illinois.
Cast members include Annie Sheahan, Damian Rzeszutek, Miranda Smith, Sam Martinek, Joe Fraider, Bella Carrig, Erin Barker, Emily Cook, Abby Martinek, Aoife McKirdie, Magdalena Macias, Halle Bradbury, and Leila Guerrero.
Richards theater manager Lauren Davis and English teacher Mike Badger directed PIR.
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“An amazing group of students that constantly improved, worked hard, and rose to every challenge placed in front of them. We were gifted a group of students that embraced a beautiful story and told it in their unique way. After making the decision to cancel Richards PIR the year before because of all of the covid protocols, it was a blessing to watch these students recharge our Speech and Drama programs. We are so proud of them," said Davis and Badger.
In the one picture, taken about 20 minutes before their final round performance, the cast sends good vibes back home to the one student that was in the cast for Regionals and Sectionals but could not make the state trip. (Meda Baltmiskyte). This group was able to work through this adversity and still achieve at a high level.
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This season they won the IHSA Regional championship, took second at sectionals, and finally second in state.
"The Truth About Jellyfish"
- based on the book ‘The Thing About Jellyfish’
by Ali Benjamin
After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting–things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a world of imagination and jellyfish research, she crafts a plan to prove her theory–even if it no one wants to listen.
The 15 minute performance focused on losing her best friend to an accident, coping with the bullying from other students, and making an unexpected friend to help her move forward.
There were 18 PIR’s that qualified from across the state. Divided into 2 prelim rounds of 9, Richards had to place in the top 3 to advance to finals. They placed 2nd in the prelim and then 2nd in the final round of 6, only being defeated both times by the eventual State Champion from Glenbard West.
