Randy Ferino Wayne Jr.

Meridian High School students, along with their director, earned honors at the North Dramafest competition at Mississippi State University in Starkville, coordinated by the Mississippi Theatre Association this past weekend.

The students performed the play “Tell My Story: The Death of Emmett Till” — a play written by Randy Ferino Wayne Jr., who also directed the students. Tylaia Keeton, who played Mamie Till-Mobley, and Josh Davis, who played Emmett Till, were named to the “All-Star Cast” for the North Dramafest Awards. The play itself won North Dramafest honors for “Best Production of a New Work” in a field of 18 schools, Wayne said.

Wayne noted the students’ ability to transform themselves into characters outside of themselves.

“I almost didn’t know who those kids were,” he said Monday afternoon.

Wayne directs the theater club at Meridian High School, and he also serves as the band director at Magnolia Middle School and the assistant band director at Meridian High School.

The Meridian students performed the play on Wednesday and Thursday in the Meridian High School auditorium. A rousing standing ovation greeted the students on Wednesday, as Wayne stood on stage after the play with dozens of students who contributed to the performance. A playgoer reported similar enthusiasm on Thursday.

Davis said he immersed himself in the life of Emmett Till, even finding that Till’s traits would follow him offstage. He drew a contrast between “acting” and the more thoughtful process of “portraying.”

“Portraying is more detailed and more layered,” Davis said on Monday. “You actually care what happens to that character.”

The students, as they reflected on the performances, also noted the challenge of portraying history. Keeton contemplated playing Mamie Till-Mobley, explaining how deep the sadness was that she sought to reach.

“I know I’m not her, and I didn’t deal with what she dealt with,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve matched how she would feel, but you can’t really match that.”

Wayne said he noticed the audience members’ emotions — sometimes tear-filled — as they, too, participated in the story.

“Honestly that’s exactly what I wanted to pull and draw out of the audience,” he said. “I wanted it to be less of a play, or a production, and more of an experience.”

Other cast members included Krystal Bielefeld, Gregory Melton, Kwame Bell, Ja’Shaun Davis, Murandel Robinson, Ka’Lireon Alford, Caleb Corbin and JaBraun Smith. Tylan Bell was the stage manager.