Savannah Arts Academy takes center stage with state theater title

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Students at the Savannah Arts Academy got to shine on stage, as the high school won the Class 2AA State Championship in the GHSA One-Act Play Competition on Nov. 15.

It’s the first time in school history the Savannah Arts Academy has taken home the state title, coming from their adaptation of “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov.

“I always like to do something on the literary side, and this piece itself has been a dream show for me to direct for a long time,” said David Poole, director and Savannah Arts Academy theater department chair. “I also wanted to do it because it’s such an important piece in the canon of theater. Since we’re educating our students here in addition to the competitions, we want to make sure they get a well-rounded education in theater.”

Several students also received individual honors:

• Best Actor - Tyler Shaw (Senior)
• All-Star Cast - Asa Clark (Junior)
• All-Star Cast - Edward Austin Bradford (Senior)

“I’ve done theater all my life - but doing this, there’s definitely an emotional depth that you have to find in each character,” said Shaw, who played the show’s lead Konstantin.

During the competition, students had just 55 minutes to set up, perform and tear down - meaning they had to get creative to make sure the production stayed on time.

“We’ve found ways to understand what our time is,” Shaw said. “We had a grandfather clock that would chime when we had 5 minutes left. We worked so hard to make sure we were in that time limit.”

Shaw said it was a surreal moment to hear he won best actor - especially since they called his character’s name. He plans to stay involved in theater after graduating high school.

Watch the extended conversation from WTOC+ below: