The stage is set: Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School drama students will perform tomorrow in the semifinals of the statewide drama guild competition with an original play written by drama teacher Kate Murray and students Kirkland Beck and Kenny Stone. Islanders are invited to attend the contest performance of the play, called Letters, in Fall River, to see a production that already has earned the cast and crew awards.

It’s a tricky script to sum up. This is how Ms. Murray put it in her program notes: This is an abstract theatre piece based on memories and experiences of a soldier names Mo, and it traverses time and place in an erratic deployment between present day reality and questionability. The locations are Iraq, West Virginia, a Washing DC hotel and a hospital ... or are they?”

The troupe received an award for acting Vineyard after a preliminary round at Attleboro High School. The judges’ citation included these comments: “Excellence in each character playing dual roles, timing in marching and sentence completion, and an overall perfection of insanity — nervous tics and all.” Students Katie Clarke and Daniel Cuff individually won awards for excellence in acting while, for his second year in a row, Chad Curtis received an award for technical excellence in set design.

Two years ago the Vineyard school made it through the semifinals of this contest, the Massachusetts High School Drama Festival, with another class-created play, Boxes, about the tragic events of 9/11, written in Shakespearean rhyming couplets.

At a rehearsal this week, Ms. Murray explained how she orchestrated the playwrighting ­— a mean feat that few other schools attempt, instead performing well-known works. “We started with writing exercises on relevant issues, developed a theme and improvised it,” she said. “We had two groups with character-writing exercises, wrote a script and found all the characters fit together and their plots intertwined.”

The finished script is filled with innuendo. Letters draws the audience members in, then pummels them with a litany of powerful images in an emotional script full of action. Letters is dramatic, bound by the pounding of marching feet attired in military boots. It moves from aggressive war scenes to a glum asylum, travelling through tender expressions of love too. A vibrant flow is created by interspersing (imaginary) letters read aloud throughout the 40-minute performance.

“I have learned I have to put it together,” Ms. Murray said of bringing the students’ ideas to a final script. It was she who expanded the plot with a series of letters. “I connected asylum characters with real life,” Ms. Murray said, “and the dual characters have a connection, which is the common thread of Letters.”

Playing two different roles makes it harder to develop each character, senior Maxwell Martin said. “I like both of my characters,” he said, “but playing an Amish farm boy and a crazy person really isn’t the easiest challenge to take on.“

Tessa Permar plays Nana and Eunice. “I had to find voices for both characters that reflected their age, yet still could be heard in the back row. Sometimes playing two characters has felt like trying to catch too many fireflies at once, ending up with an empty jar — but I am learning that if I focus on one piece of my characters at a time, I will hopefully end up with a full jar of fireflies for each.”

It was a particular challenge for Tessa to find her character Eunice. “She is tuned into the characters surrounding her, but misinterprets them completely. I relate to her gullibility and desire to look out for others; I especially appreciate her ability to find joy in others’ negative comments and situations.”

Vivian Ewing struggled, too: “Becoming Sara Asad Al Zaharani has been very challenging. This character has a lot to wrap your head around, and there’s no time in our play to ease into her. Or anything else, really. The audience gets snapshots of the characters and their worlds. We try to challenge the audience and keep them constantly thinking,” she said.

Katie Clark, who shone in The Miracle Worker, excels in Letters playing Zoe and Nell. Katie said the students used a lot of improvisation to develop their characters, and the experience has helped them gel as a troupe. “We had similar ideas and we molded together three scripts, which brought us closer together,” she said.

Tessa looked around at the chaotic scene at the high school, where rehearsals were rearranged so cast members could recover from illnesses in time for the semifinals and nerves were taut. “As unfocused as we may sometimes be during rehearsals, we are tightly connected by our dedication to this show,” she said proudly. “One of my favorite parts of participating in Letters is how excited every member is to work hard.”

Freshman Carla Corjulo confessed to be very nervous about the upcoming weekend. “But I can tell you I know from experience that the fear and nerves will melt away once I step on the stage,” she said, adding:

“I think the play is absolutely magnificent. We’ve all become like a big family and I am 110 per cent proud to be part of it.”

Ashley Willoughby is assistant director and acts as well. “I’ve had fun directing and working with every actor and actress and being able to be a part of putting the set together,” Ashley said. “I have to think as a director and an actress, which is tough but very fun.”

She adds, “I am very proud of all the work that everyone has done, from coming up with the idea, to writing the show, to producing the show, to moving on to semis. This show is abstract, so it’s a really different directing style. You have to think outside of the box which is sometimes hard but very rewarding in the end.”

Daniel Cuff plays Mo, the lead character. “It’s been a fun experience. We’ve worked through the process since October without established characters.” It’s been the most fun in his young life.

Saturday’s competition is five schools vying for two slots to the finals. Ms. Murray explained some of the rules: “We have five minutes to set up the set (timed), 40 minutes from opening of play to end (timed), and five minutes to break down the set (timed again).” Plus the whole program is student-run; no teachers or adults may assist.

Preparation for the preliminary round was intense. “We did not get a February vacation!” laughed stage manager Mariah MacKenzie. “We worked so hard. If we continue on in Fall River on March 14, it’s a huge deal!”

Mariah has seen the play evolve from its original improvisations. “It’s got the truth about war,” she said. “We wanted to bring reality and make it as realistic as possible. . .If you don’t have the light or sound, you don’t have the underlying power. Tech adds so much.”

Matthew Fisher illuminates the scenes. “Lighting for festival is a completely different experience than lighting for anything else. One of the hardest things for the technical side is the difference between expectations and realities. I have to redesign my concept of the show [for each location] either during our one-hour technical rehearsal or during the show itself. I know that I can only do my best work.”

Mariah said although it is a competition, the students get support from everyone. “The judges are theatre teachers who are quite fair and support our efforts.”

Christian Walter, who was in both The Miracle Worker and Charlie Brown, is eagerly anticipating his first semis. “It’s a lot of work. The competition is really a big deal. And a lot of fun.” He adds, “The judges felt our passion for the show.”

Vivian Ewing said the festival competition has taught the students so much and made them better dramatists. “I’ve known some of the other actors in Letters for a matter of weeks, and we’ve grown close very quickly,” she said. “In this competition and in all theatre, this connection is crucial; if we don’t have trust we don’t have anything.”

Maxwell Martin sums up the feelings of many. “Everyone who took part in festival, from our directors, to the other schools — everyone has been amazing: I don’t think I have ever met a nicer, a more energetic or a more cheerful group of people in my life,” he said, adding: “One reason that makes this play amazing for me is that I love my cast. They have become such good friends. Just acting in general is so much fun. This is such an interesting play that it makes me want to go to rehearsal every day.“

The festival is open to the public. Tickets are $10. Performances begin at 9:30 a.m. and the Vineyard troupe is scheduled on stage at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Durfee High School in Fall River; plan to arrive early, as once the doors are closed you will not be permitted to enter the theatre during performance.

For those who can’t make Fall River, Ms. Murray said that Island Theatre Workshop has invited the troupe to perform Letters at the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Thursday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. Due to adult language and context, some scenes are not appropriate to all audiences