Albert Lea High School will be presenting “J. B.” by Archibald MacLeish as its One Act competition play on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium. This performance is regarded as an open dress rehearsal which means that no admission fee is charged. The play lasts approximately 35 minutes.

“J. B.” is a modern day adaptation of the book of Job from the Bible. In the aftermath of World War II which saw entire cities and people destroyed. MacLeish wrote the play to examine the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity. It is a classic battle of good and evil, or God and Satan, as J.B. struggles to maintain his faith in a good and loving God.

The cast includes seniors: Shelby Williams, Mollie Hemandez and Lexie Bumett; juniors: Sergio Salgado, Matt Attig, Nick Bera, Shelby Illg and Claire Buendorf; and freshmen: Duncan Kromminga, Stephi Falk, Matt Bera and Emma Behling. Gretta Johnson and Claire Ellis are student directors, with Ben Rindahl and Mallorie Gil as lighting technicians. The entire production is under the direction of Lilah Estrem Aas with John Fure as technical direction and set designer.

On Friday Albert Lea will be competing in a preliminary competition at Lakeville South along with Austin, Winona, Farmington, Eastview, Lakeville North and Lakeville South. The competition is open to the public at no charge with Albert Lea’s performance scheduled for 6:45 p.m. In that the schedule may get moved up if some of the plays run shorter than the maximum time, it is recommended that viewers arrive a half hour early. From the Preliminary Competition, the top four schools will advance to the Section IAA Finals at Eastview on Feb. 3 with the top play advancing to the State One-Act Festival on Feb. 11 at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.