Woodrow Wilson High School - President Yearbook (Portsmouth, VA)

Page 18 text:

FRONT ROW: Thespian Troupe 1238; Kelly Cary, Duke Rollins, Lisa Cobb, Betty Ann Eure, Greg Vass, Leslie Marcus, David Foster. SECOND ROW: Daryl Adams, Teresa Lewis, Billy Frye, Lynn Rosser, Pam Rhodes, Jan Sawyer, Marsha Hig ger, Dawn Redd. THIRD ROW: Sherry Forbes, Pam Parnell, Stephanie Manchur, Pat Owen, Mark Bailey, Crystal Spindell, Marie Miller. BACK ROW: Mildred Harper, Keith Boone, Barry Royalle, Pattie Yates, Loretta Tretola, Robin Davenport, David Sutton, Mark Davis, Sharon Montague, Meredith McPhearson, Kevin Brown, Mr. McGlothlin. Under the direction of Aaron McGlothlin, the Drama Club and Thespian Troupe 1238 began the year with the bewitching children’s play “Zelda”. This was followed by the fall production of “Ark of Safety” from which the cast contracted their motto “The Play’s The Thing”. An evening of One-Act Plays was presented in March and included the contest play, “The Boor” as well as four others. The Drama Club’s last production of the year was the Senior Class Play where the Class of 1978 gave their last performance on the Wilson stage. Chartered back in 1952, Wilson’s own Thespian Troupe 1238 is a small, elite group of actors and actresses that have donated many hours of their time to the production of plays. Each year new mem- bers are “initiated” into the troupe. 14 Waiting patiently, Drama Club members return their ticket money.

Page 17 text:

While cleaning his gun Tom Tollett tells his mother what he plans to do to John Cutshaw. ee a cc l i John Cutshaw says his last words before the Judge passes sentence. “Ark of Safety”, the fall play, was presented on stage December 16 and 17. It told the story of a bit- ter conflict between two feuding mountain families, the Tolletts and the Cutshaws. The setting was the great Smoky Mountains, around the turn of the cen- tury. “Ark of Safety” was the first realistic drama to be presented on our stage in many years and was Sur- prisingly well received. It is also interesting to note that Wilson was the first High School in the country to represent this play. The play had an extremely large cast which con- sisted of dancers, drama students, thespians, and chorus members. The play was unique in that no props were used. Actors had topantomime such ac- tions as using a gun, drinking from a whiskey jug, eating dinner, and carrying a coffin. Throughout the play the stage took on many dif- ferent scenes such as; a wedding, murder, church, court, and a drowning. One of the most beautiful scenes was the wedding between Sue Ann McTavish and Tom Tollett who is later murdered by John Cutshaw. Later, John Cutshaw was put in prison. During the church scenes the cast sang old hymns and listened to several sermons. As the play ended, the two feuding families had resolved their differences and life became peaceful again. During the disco scene David and Stephanie do the “Bump”.

Page 19 text:

Forensics experienced a very successful year. The district Forensic Meet was held in February and Wilson placed in the following categories: Boy’s Prose: Wayne Winborne, First Place; Boy’s Poetry: Duke Rollins, First Place; Boy’s Original Oratory: Barry Royalle, Third Place. Other team members in- cluded Betty Ann Eure, Poetry; Leslie Marcus, Prose; and Jane Eastes represented the team in the spelling category. The team did an excellent Se ‘ . ae job and one we can be very Speller — Jane Eastes and Boy’s Original Oratory Barry Royall. proud of. SE 3 : A, Ce Poetry — Duke Rollins, Betty Ann Eure Prose — Wayne Winborne, Leslie Marcus 15