Mustang Theatre Advances to State Competition

KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Mustang Theatre's production of "Mother of the Maid" has been selected to compete in the state University Interscholastic League (UIL) One Act Play competition.

The production garnered several individual honors, including Best Performer for Duckie, All-Star Cast recognition for Vivian and Isaac, Honorable Mention All-Star Cast for David and Outstanding Technician for Riley.

"Mother of the Maid" tells the story of Joan of Arc's mother, described as "a sensible, hardworking, God-fearing peasant woman whose faith is upended as she deals with the baffling journey of her odd and extraordinary daughter."

The theater company will present a free public performance on campus before departing for the state competition on Friday May 16. The 40-minute show begins at 7 p.m., with early arrival recommended to secure seating.

Katy ISD

Alida "Duckie" Fredrickson, cast member of Mother of the Maid named Best Performer.

Comments (15)

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Amazing show!

I highly recommend going to this play! The whole performance is incredibly well done; it is highly entertaining, and I enjoyed it immensely. The entire cast is so talented, and Duckie stands out as the lead performer. I was amazed by the professional level of all the artists in the play. Wishing you all the best, and break a leg in the State competition!

CQ 17 days ago

Fantastic Show!

I'm so impressed with what these kids and their directors have accomplished with this show. Their hard work and dedication is to be commended. The same should be said of all those who compete in the UIL One Act Play competition, no matter how far they advance. Everyone works long hours outside of school to make it all happen.

Break a leg at State, Mustang Theatre! 1-1-1!

DKenyon 17 days ago

LIFE CHANGING

I encourage everyone to see this life changing play! Public performance on 5/16 @7pm.

AnnaMathis 17 days ago

Mother of the Maid

The playwright who wrote "Mother of the Maid" (Jane Anderson) has admitted in interviews that she just made up most of it, explicitly basing it on her own life and personality rather than Joan of Arc and her family. The characters are often the opposite of how the real people were described by the numerous eyewitness accounts, and many of the individual events in the play never happened. The only historical parts are the names of some of the characters (maybe half a dozen have the names of real people, the rest are entirely fictional) and the very vague outline of events (there was a real Joan of Arc who played a role in the war, but it wasn't fighting in combat - according to both her own statements and the numerous eyewitness accounts - and she was also executed in 1431 but her family were not there watching; there was also a postwar appeal of her case and reversal of the verdict on 7 July 1456 by the Chief Inquisitor, Jehan Brehal; but Isabelle did not march hundreds of miles over the Alps to personally harangue the Pope to allow an investigation into the case (Charles VII ordered the first investigation in 1450, and Brehal conducted the other two in 1452 and 1455-1456 after writing to the Pope for permission).

CGesange 18 days ago

They’re High Schoolers Leave them Alone

No one said this was a true story

RileyM 18 days ago

Plenty of people think it's a true story

During previous performances of this play, audiences misinterpreted the play to be historical, even audibly gasping at some of the nonsense because they thought it was based on the actual events. This is because there's a narrator intoning a summary of events as if these were drawn from actual history.

CGesange 17 days ago

Acting & Production to be celebrated

You are aware the students didn't write the play, correct? It is performed around the country - and the role was once played by Glenn Close.
The article celebrates the extreme talent of the cast & crew & directors. It also highlights a lesser known portion of UIL contests in Fine Arts.
There is historical fiction throughout the arts. It can help people in modern times relate to a long-gone period. Nothing in the play is offensive or blasphemous. It is the story of a mother's love for her child. The execution is amazing and to see the talent and dedication of the cast - that's where I heard the audible gasps.
I hope people go to see this performance - not to fact-check it - but to appreciate the hard-work and dedication of the students & directors. The countless hours of time & sweat & tears which produced such a powerful piece of art that is is recognized as one of the best in the state.
This is the first time in over 20 years Mustang Theatre has accomplished this level of recognition. Let's take the energy to support them

Jennifer 17 days ago

Nothing offensive?

You said "Nothing in the play is offensive or blasphemous". At least previous versions of the play - perhaps not this version - depicted Joan of Arc using obscenities constantly and claiming St. Catherine was sexually pleasuring her, while also showing Joan and her family as drunken buffoons and stereotypical rednecks, along with the more usual misonceptions such as implying Joan of Arc personally fought in combat (which she denied). The play has gone through several revisions so I don't know what version was used in this performance.

C Gesange 16 days ago

This is a UIL One Act Play

The directors have gotten permission from the author to cut large sections of the play so that it can be performed in less than 40 minutes, start to finish. Contrary to my original interpretation of your comment, it is clear that you have not seen Taylor’s One Act Play / interpretation of this show. I’d highly recommend that you come on May 16th and see the public performance. I’d have no problem with my 8 year old niece seeing it.

ProudMomma 16 days ago

Ok, this version sounds a lot better than the others

The article never mentioned that this performance used a substantially altered version of the play and so I had no way of guessing that. It sounds like this version is a lot better than the previous ones.

C Gesange 15 days ago

Historical Fiction - they didn't write the play

I'm not sure why the intent is to find every black cloud covering a silver lining, but you found it. The students and directors did not write the play. It's been around since around 2019 and has been performed around the country, including Glenn Close as the lead. It is a UIL approved play and therefore your concerns and protests should be brought to the UIL board. A quick Google search will put you in touch with them.
The celebration is for the cast, crew and directors who achieved something for Mustang Theatre which hasn't been done in over 20 years - long before of the students were born.
I appreciate your in-depth knowledge of the topic and encourage you to write a One Act Play for UIL which represents a more historically accurate version of the events - if that is a thing that brings you joy. If the thing that brings you joy is fact-checking a play which is not marketed as a documentary and instead flying in and disparaging the work of the students, then so be it. It's sad but so be it.
The audible gasps were directed to the powerful performances by an amazingly talented cast & crew, led by directors who have given so much to this program. The powerful imagery and raw feelings of a mother who has lost her daughter and is powerless to intervene - take that away from this play. Historical fiction is long practiced in the arts; it allows modern day to connect to a distant time with a bit of artistic license. To watch students pull such strong reactions to raw emotions is a privilege to watch.
I encourage people to attend the public performance. You may not be able to pass an exam on the life and times of Joan and her mother, but you will be moved by the dedication and talent of local young artists.

LauraM 17 days ago

I was referring to the play as a whole, not this performance

I never "disparaged the work of the students" since I was referring to the play itself, not the students; and when I mentioned that audiences during previous performances had mistaken the play for accurate history I was referring to the use of a narrator to intone a list of alleged events that never actually happened but which the play - or at least previous versions of the play - implies were actual historical events by the use of a narrator (breaking the fourth wall so to speak) rather than the characters in the play.

C Gesange 16 days ago

What’s your problem?

Exactly what’s your point in commenting? What I’ve gotten from your word salads is that you can’t understand why Taylor has advanced with a play that has a narrator. and it’s not based on truth. State your purpose.

AnnaMathis 16 days ago

What's YOUR problem?

My purpose was to point out the historical errors in the play or at least earlier versions of the play that I'm familiar with. That should have been clear enough from my comments about history. I have no idea why you're in such a huff about my comments given that I have never said anything disparaging about the students or the school, and my comments have been polite - far more than yours, since you're claiming (rather absurdly) that I'm babbling "word salad" gibberish, which you know isn't true.

C Gesange 15 days ago

And that doesn’t matter

Full disclosure- I’m a Taylor parent. Since it seems that you’ve seen the show several times, and you’re from the Katy area, you might have been at the Zone, District, and/or Bi-District competitions where the Contest Manager specifically said that shows cannot be judged on their literary content. They don’t say what they are being judged on, but one can assume that it’s the ability to tell a story in a compelling way and create connections both between characters and with the audience. The fact that audiences believed the story is a testament to the amazing work of the actors and technicians in this show. They are given a script and have to work with what they’re given…and they’ve executed it beautifully.

ProudMom 17 days ago