HUTTO — A Farley Middle School eighth-grader is headed to the International Thespian Festival this summer after taking center stage at the Texas Thespians Junior Festival.
Preston Brown’s performance of two contrasting monologues — a comedic one from “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and a dramatic one from “The Glass Menagerie” — won him a ticket to the national spotlight with a nearperfect score — 19 out of 20.
“It (the competition) was exhilarating,” Brown said. “Everyone there was really nice, so, like, it gave me a confidence boost, and it was, overall, really fun.”
The junior festival took place Nov. 2 at O’Connor High School in San Antonio. The international contest is June 22-27 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Brown only had about a week and a half to prepare for the junior competition.
Farley’s theater group initially planned to attend the junior festival as observers so students could focus on the One Act Play for the University Interscholastic League, but teacher Elizabeth Leopold opened up the option for the pupils to participate in the monologue competition using the material they were already working on in class.
“I was just really impressed how well … Preston did in such a short amount of time,” Leopold said.
On top of a short preparation period, the junior competition was Brown’s first time competing as an actor, having only about a year of theater experience under his belt, with most of it as a theater technician.
In sixth grade, Brown split his elective time between theater and art, spending only one semester each.
Brown decided to continue in art classes, but eventually opted to give theater another try at the encouragement of his peers. He transferred into the advanced class a few months ago.
“I had, like, half the theater class really think that I would enjoy it, and so I decided to put the effort into trying to join,” he said.
At that time, the One Act Play was in production with roles already cast, leaving the only option to participate in the background as a tech, who manages the lights, sound or placement of props and set pieces on stage.
But even as a tech, Brown worked diligently to absorb the theater experience, attending every rehearsal, which is not required for techs.
Then, he took the chance to perform on stage at the junior festival.
“Preston is pretty quiet, so him wanting to do the acting was definitely a surprise,” Leopold said. “But, obviously, how well he did is not a surprise. … He’s just very good at getting a task and getting it done without questions.”
Leopold hopes to accompany Brown to the festival this summer and bring along other Farley theater students to cheer him on.
“I just always want my students to experience theater and be around theater people,” she said. “(Al)though it’s a competition, you can very easily forget that because of how friendly and charismatic theater people are. I definitely just hope he (Brown) gets to interact with all (types of) theater people and for sure gets to just watch good theater. I think that always can inspire and grow a student.”
In addition to interacting with other thespians, Brown will be able to compete, watch shows and attend workshops at the national festival to develop his skills.
“I’m kind of just looking forward to it all …because I’ve never done this before,” he said.
