Indiana Jones, Captain America and Simba from "The Lion King," found themselves lost in the woods. As Simba and Captain America argued about which path to take, Indiana fell into a snake pit and died, drawing the scene to a close.
Indy, Cap and Simba — in reality, three students from Carroll high schools — sketched together that scene as part of Carroll County Public Schools' inaugural Theatre'lympics on Saturday at Carroll Community College.
The event brought together students from each of Carroll's high schools for a day of improv and community, culminating in a "Whose Line is it Anyway?"-style performance in the evening.
In the morning, the students were divided into groups of eight, with each group made up of one representative from each of the eight high schools. The groups were then instructed in a series of improv games, taught by members of the county's FoolProof Improvisational Theatre Troupe.
Winters Mill art and drama teacher Meredith Birmingham, one of the organizers, said one of the most important facets of the Theatre'lympics was the bringing together of students from different schools.
"Even when we come to Dramafest, the kids sit with their schools. They don't get to mingle and meet each other," Birmingham said. "Today is awesome because this is their chance to get to know people from other schools."
The four games taught included "The Picture Game," in which each participant was assigned a secret celebrity or fictional character they must embody for the duration of a scene; "Stand, Sit, Squat, Lie Down," in which a team of four presents a scene requiring one member each must be sitting, standing, squatting and lying down at any given time; "Pick a Line," in which actors are given a scenario but must incorporate prewritten lines of dialogue, often non-sequiturs; and "Infomercial," in which actors must pretend to sell a fictional product.
Wil Clancy, of Liberty High School, portrayed Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trying to focus on finishing his schoolwork while ignoring Marilyn Monroe and Anna from "Frozen," while playing "The Picture Game."
"It's been very interesting; I've met a lot of new people," Clancy said. "I may not have known any of the people in this group when I first got here, but we've talked a lot. We've had some fun so far together."
Throughout the day, students sold magic manta rays and enacted humorous scenes of car accidents while sitting, standing, squatting and lying down, while others were forced to end a scene about in-school fighting with the line "You can dance if you want to; you can leave your friends behind."
The event, put together by each of the drama programs in the county, is designed to raise money for Dramafest, an annual celebration of Carroll's theater arts programs. Birmingham said Dramafest, held in late spring, is one of the most important events of the year for the high school theater students.
"It's a celebration of all of our programs, and is a way to show off our best work," Birmingham said. "It's so important for these kids to get this kind of support."
At Dramafest, each school performs a single scene or collection of key moments from its production that year. The money raised at Theatre'lympics will go to support classes taught by theater professionals at the event.
"They teach 20-minute workshops on important theater techniques, including stage combat, makeup and auditioning," Birmingham said.
Both Dramafest and Theatre'lympics are important events in developing the county's theater community.
"Most of the students go to a school where athletics is the main passion and is something that everyone's passionate about together," Birmingham said. "Here, they're among other kids who love and are passionate about the same things they are. For the first time, they're interacting with each other and giving each other tips and growing together."
At the end of the day of practice, the groups took to the stage to play the improv games live before an audience. A team of panelists, including Carroll Community College theater members judged the games, awarding points to the teams that best fulfilled the stipulations. Birmingham said it was no accident they held the event at the community college campus.
"A lot of students who come to this and who work with us end up going to Carroll," Birmingham said. "This is a great way for them to get used to the space and meet some people that they'll be working with in the near future."
Reach staff writer Jacob deNobel at 410-857-7890 or jacob.denobel@carrollcountytimes.com.
