This past weekend, Stratford competed with seven other schools in the One-Act Play region competition.

Stratford, which hosted the event, placed third, and senior Matt Newberry received the award for “Best Actor” for his role as the “Formidable One” in the performance of “The New Play,” written by Elaine J. Watkins and directed by Ms. Sylvia Haynie.

Matt has passionately participated in theatre for more than a decade.

“The whole cast went out and gave it their best, and the audience was very energetic, which was really good for us,” he said.

Matt was not expecting the award, so he was extremely surprised when his name was announced.

“I ran up there and got my trophy from Ms. Voss. It was a very tender moment. Then, I went downstairs and cried a lot because it was very emotional,” he said.

Matt was very honored to receive such a large recognition in his last One Act performance. 

 Although Matt is very passionate about theatre, he does not plan on pursuing it as a career in the future because of its competitive field, but is open to participating in community theatre.

“They call it a play for a reason,” said Matt. 

Matt describes One-Act as “one of the best things” he has done at Stratford.

“It forms a team and a family,” he said.