Waukesha West Takes Home Critics' Choice Award for 'The Tangled Snarl'

Waukesha West High School shined bright during the recent Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival at UW-Stevens Point where they performed The Tangled Snarl.

Senior Morgan Larson and Junior Tara Saye received the outstanding acting award while the entire cast received the outstanding ensemble award. The crew was given the outstanding crew award and West’s theater director, Nathan Berish, was given the outstanding directing award. But the biggest award was the Critics’ Choice award.

“It was a wildly successful weekend for us by any measure,” Berish said in an email to Waukesha Patch.

Waukesha West High School was given 45 minutes to put up the set, perform the play and clear the stage. “It takes a lot of coordination to make it all work,” Berish explained.

Twenty-four students were required for set up and tear down at the state festival.

They first perform The Tangled Snarl, described by Berish as “a parody of the 1940s film noir detective stories,” at the district qualifier in Kenosha on Oct. 20. They advanced to the sectional qualifier at Catholic Memorial High School on Nov. 3.

“We went up to Stevens Point on Friday to watch some other schools' shows, take in some workshops, and scout the stage we'd be performing on,” Berish said. “Saturday morning, after very little sleep, the kids went on and gave a terrific, award-winning performance.

“The students had been rehearsing all the way through the process (about two and a half months), refining and polishing moments in the show always getting it ready for the next performance.  It was a lot of work, and I think everyone is relieved to finally be finished.”