On November 3, the Wagner Oral Interpretation team had their home performance in the school theater. This is the only showcase of the Oral Interp season and is open to the public. Like a play, there is no flash photography or recording during the performances. During competitions, students perform at the same time. Therefore, this showcase is the first time that many students can watch their peers’ performance. As a coach, it has been fun to watch each participants growth throughout the season. This event has always been a favorite and provides even more excitement prior to Regions because the students can finally watch each other perform, support and celebrate each other.

The various pieces are always selected by students. This year many of the selections explored real-world topics and mature themes. Participants encouraged their audience to confront uncomfortable yet timely topics including death, depression, suicide, racism, hurtful comments, politics, loneliness and eating disorders. The audience was given a few breaks from the heavy content with an intermission and a singular humorous piece.

Usually, the home showcase is the team’s final performance prior to Regions. However, this year’s schedule is slightly different, so the team will travel to Mitchell on Friday, November 7th. I am extremely grateful for Libby Renbarger and Mieke Slaba who judged the performances and gave constructive criticism to each participant. Wishing to take all the pieces to regions, their input along with the results from the Mitchell competition will aid in the decision-making process.

At the showcase, we honor our senior participants for their leadership. Our teams lone senior, Matthew Kokes, was recognized. Although he is no stranger to the Oral Interp world, he wasn’t convinced until his senior year to step into it. At his very first performance, he approached me right before his speech and admitted, “I’m really nervous.” As a first-year participant, I appreciate his perspective and respect for the craft, he’s mentioned the amount of work it is for participants to memorize a ten-minute speech, to remember the planned actions while making them look spontaneous, and to receive criticism. Kokes’s humorous selection, “Thank You for Texting” by Camila Vasquez, puts a voice to the thoughts of a performer while someone is rudely texting during their speech. Kokes has performed well consistently and will advance uncontested in the humorous category to regions.

Portlyn and Braelyn Jones performed in the Duo category with their piece entitled “Identical” by Danielle Castillo. Since they are the only duo this year, they will automatically advance to region competition. Unfortunately, I cannot take every piece and performer to regional competition, although I’d like to, as a school can only advance one piece per category.

On Friday, November 7th, the whole team travelled to Mitchell’s McGovern Annual Speech and Debate Tournament. We were able to take the whole team only because Jeanne Neugebauer, Kara Frei’s mother, was willing to be a judge. In Oral Interp, coaches need to cover a judging position for every five entries. Usually coaches double as judges, or sometimes there are a limited number of judges available for hire. Everyone scored well; however, the competition is tough amongst AA schools, and no one advanced to the finals round.

Our regional competition will be held in Chamberlain on Monday, November 17th. See next weeks Wagner Post for results!