Sophomore Keith Gruber and senior Jennifer Sloan placed first at the Lake Travis Speech and Debate Tournament in Duet Acting Oct. 19.

“The two of them practiced before and after school, and got critiques from a handful of people, mainly judges,” coach Erin Pena said.

The hard work clearly paid off, as they now have 8 of the 12 qualifying points needed to proceed onto the State competition (which will be held in March at Cypress Creek High in Houston).

Duet acting, along with other debate events such as humorous or duo interpretation, tends to be popular with students with a penchant for dramatics — so it’s no coincidence that both Sloan and Gruber are members of the Drama Club as well. Partners perform on stage and rely on facial expressions, gestures and verbal manipulation to convey to the audience their respective acts. Oftentimes, the most successful acts contain some elements of humor but with a substantial emotional theme.

The pair performed a scene from Don Zolidis’ play, The World’s Largest Rodent, which narrates a boy’s struggles after his father’s departure and his mother’s consequent mental breakdown. As it was a full-length play, they had to condense the script into a 12-minute scene, making sure to incorporate the characters necessary to give it fluidity. Sloan portrayed two characters within the act and Gruber portrayed one.

Sloan and Gruber initially had some difficulty with their interpretation, not performing as strongly in their first competition. However, both quickly worked to remediate their technique.

“Winning was such a joy,” Gruber said. “We haven’t decided where we want to compete next to get the rest of the points, but I love that little plastic trophy with all my heart.”