ANSLEY–“The theater, the theater, what’s happened to the theater?” Well Danny Kaye, the theater and one act programs are alive and well in central Nebraska thanks to the talented students and a newly discovered playwright.
Ansley art teacher and one act coach Kalla Sawyer wrote “Stone Creek Sorrow” which takes a look into the early 1900s coal mining industry. Ansley one act students performed the show in 2021 and earned 2nd place in the D2-6 NSAA Play Production District Championships last year.
“It was a great play and I’m going to love this play probably forever! We had a really successful season with the one act team until we got to districts and we got runner up and it was devastating. I’ve never felt so sad about losing something in my life,” Kalla Sawyer told KCNI/KBBN.
However, earning runner up is nothing to hang your head on and Sawyer said she admires how extremely dedicated her students were throughout the last season and continue to be hard working, passionate students this fall.
“I love getting to see a different side of our students. In a small school our students get to experience so many opportunities and they don’t have to stick to one sport, activity, or club. I love when they step out of their comfort zone and try something new,” Sawyer said.
Mrs. Sawyer said she gathered inspiration to write “Stone Creek Sorrow” from a book she was reading that mentioned children miners as “breaker boys,” a term she was unfamiliar with.
“A quick Google search turned up a lot of information about coal mining and I was instantly hooked! It all snowballed from there,” Mrs. Sawyer told KCNI/KBBN.
As for live performances of the show, Sawyer said she never would have guessed other schools would want to perform it. Two different schools including Gretna High Schools, who has multiple state championships under its belt, and Minden Public Schools asked to secure the rights to “Stone Creek Sorrow” and perform the show this fall.
According to the Minden Courier, the play production director in Minden, Jeffrey Horner, witnessed the Ansley performance and reached out to Mrs. Sawyer on how to secure rights to the show.
A year later, the Ansley and Minden one act teams had the opportunity to perform the play for each other and give feedback during a dual performance day on November 11 in Minden.
Minden held a public performance of “Stone Creek Sorrow” on November 15 and this year Ansley is performing “Gretel! the Musical” with a public performance on Monday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m.
When asked what it means to her to see her own students perform a play she wrote, as well as other schools perform it on stage, Sawyer told KCNI/KBBN said she was moved to tears.
“I only intended to write a play that highlighted my students’ strengths. Last year I had a lot of upperclassmen with endless talents, and I wanted to showcase as many as I could. ‘Stone Creek Sorrow’ offered them this opportunity and while giving the underclassmen time to work with them to get stage experience. I was moved to tears during our first critiques when our judge, the Gretna One-Act head coach, offered to buy it. That moment set the tone for the rest of the season. We knew we had something!”
Is more writing in her future? Mrs. Sawyer says she would like to try writing again when the time is right.
“The kids really take ownership of a play when they know they’re the original cast,” she said.
The NSAA Play Production District competitions will start next week and the NSAA State Play Production Championships will take place in early December at the Johnny Carson Theater in Norfolk, Neb.
