MCC ONE ACT PERFORMS ORPHAN TRAIN

By Jenny Kirk

Murray County Central narrowly missed qualifying for the 2023 State One Act Play Festival as they finished second at the Section 3A competition on Saturday in Redwood Falls.

Central Minnesota Christian School edged MCC by a single point and advances on to compete at state on Friday, Feb. 10.

“Our students performed extremely well and I couldn’t be more proud of their performance,” MCC director Isaac Harms said. “We got second place and were the runner up.

There were three judges and we were one point away from first place and moving on to the state competition. The judges only had great things to say about the play.”

The Rebels went into the section competition as subsection champions.

“There were six teams at subsections, so to receive first place out of all the great plays was certainly an exciting experience,” Harms said. “The first and second teams from the four subsections advanced to sections at Redwood Falls.

This provided for eight total teams at sections. Of the eight teams that perform at sections, only one advances to state.”

Morris Area finished third in the Section 3A competition on Saturday, followed by Lac qui Parle Valley, BOLD/Buffalo Lake, Luverne, Westbrook- Walnut Grove and Montevideo.

“We have an excellent play, and the students are doing an competitive at sections.”

Fans of the MCC drama department had the opportunity to watch the emotionally-charged “Orphan Trains” presentation this past Friday evening, just prior to the section competition.

“From 1853 to 1929, The Orphan Trains Project joined adoptive parents with orphans in countless towns throughout the vast American landscape,” Harms said of the overview. “Based on primary records from the Children’s Aid Society of New York, ‘Orphan Trains’ brings this compelling story of hardships and victories to life, resonating with the authentic voices of a diverse group of children.”

Throughout those years, approximately 200,000 children were “adopted” out — this was prior to the federal government’s involvement in child protection and child welfare. And while many of the children were placed with loving parents, some were primarily used as cheap labor or mistreated in other ways.

Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society, sparked the concept of placing the needy children with families in the west rather than orphanages because he felt that orphanages were overcrowded and gloomy places that did not teach children to become productive and functioning adults who were capable of taking care of themselves.

Besides capturing the sincere emotions of the characters they portrayed, the Rebels were also challenged by the large number of roles in the play. Nearly all of the MCC cast had multiple roles in this year’s One Act Play. A few even portrayed three or four different characters. And they did that with 20 student members, which includes the sound and lights personnel.

“Due to One Act Play rules, we are restricted to 20 members,” Harms said. “Our performance also has to be under 35 minutes.”

During the “Orphan Trains” presentation on Friday, audience members of all ages seemed to be fully engaged in the action on stage. They watched as a young girl was separated from her baby sister — despite the girl’s promise to her dying mother that they’d always stay together — because a couple only wanted a baby. Audience members also witnessed the harsh treatment toward a 14-year-old boy whom a couple took in solely for farm labor.

Fortunately, there were also success stories, such as a 15-year-old girl being asked to live with a widower whose husband

died five years prior and a young boy who was treated as part of the family.

Eventually, the ambitious and controversial social experiment to rescue poor and homeless children significantly decreased as states began passing laws that prohibited the placement of children across state lines. For decades afterward, many of the orphans found it difficult, if not impossible, to locate and obtain records from their past.

This year marks the second year that MCC has participated in the One Act Play competition in recent years. Harms, who has served as the drama department director since 2017, said they transitioned from a Spring Play to One Act last year.

“MCC has had a Fall musical and a Spring play each year for the community,” he said. “Last year, however, we decided to forgo the spring play and do the One Act Play instead. The students have enjoyed this opportunity to compete and improve through observing other schools and getting critiqued by the judges.”

Harms said the kids have done well in their short experience, which is fun to see, he said.

“The students have been committed and it’s showing on our stage,” he said. “From our Fall musical ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to our One Act Play ‘Orphan Trains,’ the students have made this season one to remember!”