Forensics duo places at nationals

MORAN — Mention comedic couples to history buffs and the pairings of such stalwarts as Lucy and Ricky or George and Gracie come to mind.
Ask the same question at Marmaton Valley High School, meanwhile, and you’ll just as easily hear about Payton and Emily.
Payton Wilson and Emily Boyd completed their high school Forensics careers in grand fashion over the weekend by placing 10th at the Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Wilson and Boyd reached the semifinals in duo interpretation, a variation of the duet acting they’ve competed in over the past four years.
Their piece, “The Staggering Heartbreak of Jasmine Merriweather,” by Don Zolidis, follows the uproarious tale of Emily, portrayed by Boyd who mistakenly interprets a male counterpart’s affections for true love.
When she finds out her “boyfriend” (Wilson) considers their relationship more casual, Jasmine does not take the news well.
“She basically goes psychotic,” Boyd said.
Not only was the top-10 finish the first in school history at the national event, it’s the first time a school Marmaton Valley’s size — from anywhere — reached such a lofty finish.
Instructor Julie Tholen noted Boyd and Wilson competed against schools primarily from urban areas in Kansas, and elsewhere across the country. The first-place winning duo interpretation team hailed from Washington, D.C., she noted.
“They also competed against several private schools,” Tholen said.
Both Wilson and Boyd admitted they entered the competition with modest hopes.
After all, they’d entered this same national-level event twice previously but had never as much as made it to the “octo-finals” or the final 48 competitors.
“We were like, ‘If we break, cool, but we’d seen some pretty good stuff, and we didn’t expect it,” Boyd said.
But after four preliminary rounds Saturday, the duo was informed that night they had advanced to the final 48.
Sunday was a whirlwind. They’d compete in the same room with several other fellow entrants, then wait anxiously to find out if they’d advance.
They did, to the quarterfinals and semifinals before bowing out before making it to the final six.
“By the time the event was over, the only entry we hadn’t seen was the one that won the national title,” Boyd said.

DUO interpretation involved some small, yet significant differences, from their duet acting process.
Not only were Boyd and Wilson prohibited from making eye contact during the piece, they also had to avoid touching each other — easier said than done in certain scenes that otherwise would have required them to hold hands. Nor could they use simple props, such as chairs or tables for the full 10 minutes.
“The eye contact part wasn’t a big deal, but where we hit a spot that we needed chairs, we had to rework it and re-choreograph a new section,” Wilson said.
“It wasn’t that bad, considering how much we use tables, chairs and touching,” Boyd joked.

WHILE both will attend the University of Kansas in the fall, neither Boyd nor Wilson plan to do much more in terms of acting.
Boyd plans to study chemistry; Wilson, international business marketing management.
“I won’t miss having to memorize lines and practice and practice after school,” Boyd said. “I won’t miss the stress of not knowing if we were going to break. But I will miss the performances.”
“Especially now that we finished 10th,” Wilson added. “I kind of want to go back next year to see if we can do better.”

FUNNY thing about the comedy team of Payton Wilson and Emily Boyd is that it almost never started.
Entering his freshman year, Wilson was certain he wanted to compete in Forensics — competitive speaking and acting — but he knew he also did not want to enter a solo piece.
“ I wanted to do a duet, but I didn’t have anybody to do it with, so I asked Emily. She said, ‘No, that sounds dumb. I don’t want to do it.’”
After a week of not finding any other duet partners, Wilson asked Boyd again.
She agreed this time, but with little enthusiasm.
“She was like, ‘OK, whatever,’” Wilson said. “It wasn’t really any hassle to get her to do it after that. She stepped up because nobody else would do it with me.”
They quickly found their niche, qualifying for state finals in duet acting all four years. (They won this year).

THE NATIONAL event was made even more special, the students said, because of their built-in cheering squad.
Freshman Clara Boyd also qualified for nationals in oral declamation, an event open only to ninth- and 10th-graders. She recited a speech, “Mothers and Daughters” penned years ago by Cokie Roberts.
Meanwhile, two Iola High School students, Trilby Bannister and Catie Venter, also qualified for the national event in solo categories.
Bannister competed in dramatic performance about a girl who is part dinosaur. Venter competed in oral interpretation (literature and prose).
While none of the others advanced past preliminary rounds, they were enthusiastic in their support of Boyd and Wilson as they reached the semifinals.
“It was almost like we were part of one team, Allen County High School,” Boyd said.
“It was very nice to see some familiar faces,” Tholen agreed.

THOLEN lauded, not only the students, but the community members for their support.
“This trip was possible because the students did tons of fundraising the past few years,” said Tholen, who is giving up her forensics coaching duties after this year. “If it hadn’t been for the support from the patrons attending our dinners and bidding on baskets at auctions, we wouldn’t have been able to have done the things we’ve done and seen the things we did.”
Tholen said Boyd and Wilson acquitted themselves well.
“In terms of the work they put in,” Tholen said, “there’s not a team that deserves more praise.”