On Friday, Mar. 25, the theatre department advanced in the UIL One Act Play. With this advancement, the one-act troupe will compete at the UIL bi-districts competition on Friday, Apr. 1, increasing the challenge just that much more.

Two seniors stood out from the rest: Josh Edwards was awarded Best Actor for his performance in the theatre’s play Haymarket Eight, and Cole Andrews won Best Technician in the production overall.

The entire show brought home honors, though. The cast, which included Josh Edwards, Grace Whaley, Brett Bellamy, Michael Pham, Jazzlyn Gonzalez, Mark Waddell, Ryan Simon, Liam McGarity, Caleb Wyrick, Emily Deragon, Chance Jarvis, Kieran Pilling, Sarah Bartholomew, Dani Dinderman and Abby Weeks, was named an All-Star Cast. The honor of Outstanding Crew went to Cole Andrews, Blake Dalton, Sam Haygood, Megan Sizemore and Cole Yates.

“I’m very honored to be awarded Best Actor,” senior Josh Edwards said. “It’s great.”

A huge congrats goes out to the cast and crew of Haymarket Eight for making the All-Star cast so long. Cypress Ranch always makes competitions for others very challenging, and the theatre students consistently do well in productions.

With Haymarket Eight advancing so far, the performers are feeling the pressure to do their best and “break a leg,” although some actors aren’t fazed by it at all.

“I’m a little nervous but I know we can do really well,” Edward said.

The actors have been practicing almost everyday for weeks to prepare for UIL and they know not to give up easily. If Cypress Ranch drops out, they won’t go out without a bang.

“It’s a lot of hard work after school but it’s worth it,” Edwards said.

At the end of it all, practice makes perfect, and the hard work and dedication the cast has shown has gotten them to this achievement.

“Always work hard for something that you really want,” Edwards said.