Duxbury hosts our area’s 2012 Preliminary Festival for the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild this Saturday, March 3, starting at 9 a.m. at the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 for the whole day sold only at the door, and will include a total of eight 40-minute one-act plays performed by dramatists competing for themselves and for their high schools.

Duxbury High School’s offering, Deborah Brevoort’s “Women of Lockerbie,” tells a contemporary story in the format of a classical Greek drama, complete with chorus and catharsis. I checked on Brevoort’s Web site. The play tells a haunting story of a mother searching for whatever remained of her son in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Loosely based on fact, the story touches on the efforts of local women in Lockerbie to secure the release of remnants of the victims’ clothing so they could launder them and return them to the bereaved families.

The set up suggests to me Sophocles’ “Antigone,” which examines the great power of uncompleted bereavement. Antigone sacrifices her own life and security to complete the proper burial of her brother, despite King Creon’s prohibition. The real people of Lockerbie sometimes faced governmental resistance, as the clothing items they meticulously washed, ironed and folded were released only when they were deemed to have no forensic value. At the same time, some of the victims’ bodies were left in place for several days as forensic teams worked their way through the process.

Parents and friends can attend Duxbury’s dress rehearsal at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 1 at the PAC. This includes an opportunity to join in the performance critique at the end of the show. On Festival Day (Saturday), Duxbury’s entry is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., but start times through the day of performances can vary. Your best bet is to arrive early, since the doors close for each performance. Better yet, come for the whole day.

I’m looking forward to it. Theater is in my blood. True story: my father was shot during a skit performed at Ft. Sill, Okla. He was not seriously harmed, but the wadding from a blank cartridge actually hit him and drew blood. Nevertheless, he delivered his lines and later taught me the ageless lesson that the show must go on.

My own career on stage – mostly in high school – gave me a priceless venue for membership, if you will, in my high school class. I cheered at our football and basketball games, but in theater, I performed.

I was blessed with large audiences, or perhaps, a small auditorium. In Heidelberg, Germany, high school theater offered a touch of Americana to military families overseas. Family and friends arrived, and so did everyone else. When the same level of support occurs here in Duxbury, our performing arts kids – music and theater – live an experience of community involvement as vivid as that of any varsity athlete, and just as lasting.

When you go to the PAC to cheer on our hometown dramatists, notice one more thing. The intensity of the Festival protocol engages more than the actors on stage. All theater includes technicians, make-up, costumes and the like, but the 40-minute format of the Festival competition places these supports on high alert. Every piece must work in concert, and even the best acting and direction can be disqualified if the show opens late or runs long. Talk about teamwork!

I’ll be there Saturday, and I’ll write a follow-up to fill you in on the rest of the DHS drama season, including a “play-by-play” review of the day. I’ll be posing as Art Critic, in my slickest jeans, blazer and T-shirt. Until then, break a leg, Dragons!