Many heads turned when a student walked into the church chewing on a toothpick, accompanied by what appeared to be a bum off the streets.

Drama teacher Tom McEntee, along with Paul Kinnear, ’06, Chris White, ’05, and Greg Tharpe, ’04, traveled to Fremont to compete against other drama teams on Mar. 23.

The Association of Christian Schools International [ACSI] hosted the event at the Centerville Presbyterian Church. The campus drama team performed two pieces, “”The Salt of the Streets”” and “Confessing with G.K. Chesterton”.

“The Salt of the Streets” tells the tale of a homeless man who may be more than he seems.

“Getting into my character, the bum, was easy for me,” Tharpe said. “”I really love the message of the play. It shows how appearances can be deceiving; the true Christian is actually the bum on the streets, not the wealthy businessman.””

“Confessing with G.K. Chesterton” portrays an actor who teaches his director about humility.

“In ‘Confessing with G.K Chesterton,’ I play an actor who is searching,” Kinnear said. “He’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with the world, and in the end he realizes that he’s the problem.”

McEntee is proud of his students’ dedication and acheivements.

“I am really pleased with the effort each drama student put in to our performance,” McEntee said. “We had a great time, and I wish we could have stayed longer.”

McEntee was called on to be a judge for the competition.

“There was a huge conflict of interest when I got there,” McEntee said. “They decided to make me a judge. It was weird to judge my own drama students because I’m obviously biased in their favor.”

White and Tharpe, acting in “The Salt of the Streets” received 4th out of 11 place. Kinnear and Tharpe performed “Confessing with G.K. Chesterton” and, while they did not place at the competition, they did receive an excellent rating.

“I felt like the judges were biased,” Tharpe said. ” It was our first time there and we learned from our mistakes, so the next time around we won’t make them again.”

Drama will next perform on April 1 in chapel. Nine of the students will perform a monologue at Fresno City College during the Twenty-Sixth Annual Valley Invitational Theatre Festival on April 13.

A DVD will be available to student body containing drama’s perfomances of”The Lottery” and “Romeo and Juliet”. The DVD will sell for $10, beginning April 11.

For more information on the drama team contact McEntee at 297-9464, ext. 134.