Hartington-Newcastle places first in L&C one-act competition

RANDOLPH – Students from Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools have tasted sweet success during the 2023 play production season.

Hartington-Newcastle placed first in the Lewis and Clark Conference One-Act Play contest for its students' performance of 'Willy Wonka' – the classic story of Charlie Bucket and the chocolate factory – on Nov. 14 in Randolph.

'I was very proud of the way we performed at conference,' said Hartington- Newcastle one-act coach A.J. Johnson, who has described his students' play production as 'a comedy with heart.'

Outstanding Performer certificates were awarded to: Emily Climer, Dane Gotch, Kennedy Gotch, Ryell Haug, Cole Heimes, Trevon Hopping, Carter Kelly, Mani Lange, Lainey Morten, Kaylee Ptak, Izzy Schaecher, Dayton Sudbeck and Trynity Zach.

The next one-act competition for Hartington-Newcastle, the two-time defending Class C2 state champion, will be the District C2-3 Play Production contest on Nov. 28 in Creighton.

'There will be some very good competition at the district meet,' Johnson said. 'We will work to continue to improve upon our conference performance.

'We got a lot of good feedback from the judges and hav e a lot that we can work to improve,' he said. 'We are excited to get to work to see how we can make our team better.'