Massey Hill High students headed to international festival — if they can raise money in time
Members of a Fayetteville high school theater program are seeking donations to travel to Indiana this summer to perform at an international theater festival.
Students in the Massey Hill Classical High School Theater Program are set to perform at the International Thespian Festival, June 23-28.
“This is the first time ever in Cumberland County that a 'One Act' has performed at the festival,” Massey Hill High School theater instructor Molly Malone said.
The students earned their spot in the festival after placing in the top two of five schools across the state in the Regional International Thespian Society competition in January held at the Durham School of the Arts.
For the International Thespian Festival, the Massy Hill students will perform the play "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse," a story that teaches the importance of apology and forgiveness. In the story, a mouse named Lilly takes a purse to school only to have it confiscated by her favorite teacher for being a distraction, Malone said. Lilly seeks revenge and retaliates against the teacher, but eventually feels remorseful and apologizes the following day.
“I have a soft spot in my heart for this story,” Malone said. “They’ve all been little kids who struggled with going to school.”
Malone said she has taught theater for more than 13 years. She's been at Massey Hill High School since 2018.
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Malone said her students have been preparing for the performance since October.
“To watch their commitment, their growth. It has been very impressive. I am in awe of them,” she said.
Massey Hill High School is the only North Carolina school represented at this year's festival, Malone said.
The process of creating the show has been collaborative with students communicating and brainstorming how to attract the audience's attention, said Malone.
“They are so humble that they are genuinely surprised that people like what they’ve been creating,” Malone said. “Something that they love is seen as worthwhile.”
For the school's theater troupe to attend the festival, they must raise $30,000 to pay for transportation and festival fees, which include lodging and food, for the 27 students and four chaperones. As of Wednesday, the school had raised $10,000 for the trip, Malone said.
To donate to the theater program, visit School Cash or mail a check to Massey Hill High School: Attention Theater, 1062 Southern Ave., Fayetteville, 28306.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Massey Hill theater program to perform at national theater festival
