“Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.”

“Where does the door go?” prompted Coraline. 

“Nowhere, dear,” said her Mother.

“It has to go somewhere,” Coraline concluded.

This is just a snippet of senior Rook Jacobsen and junior Julia Clausen’s award-winning Forensics act about the story of Coraline.

“Julia and I split a bunch of characters between ourselves, she plays all of Coraline’s bits and I play all of the supporting characters,” Jacobsen said.

The duo’s script is a combination of both the book and movie of Coraline. This special touch puts a unique spin on this famous literature piece.

“They’ve been able to bring their talent sets to the duo, and I think it’s fun to see this well known story come to life,” Forensics coach Sabrina Denney Bull said.

For Jacobsen and Clausen, some characters were easier to portray than others. As Jacobsen jumps around between many characters throughout the script, he enjoys getting to know them on a deeper level.

“My favorite character is the old man. His voice is very fun and I love his spooky factor, he’s a very unique character,” Jacobsen said.

While Clausen mainly played the one character of Coraline, she still had some struggles before she found her groove.

“I feel like keeping the character alive and consistent [was difficult],” Clausen said.

Aside from building up the characters, the two spent a lot of time with their script. They memorized, changed, and critiqued it for weeks.

“It takes about three weeks to get actually comfortable with the script, and even then you have to keep working and changing things,” Jacobsen said.

One of the more unique things about the duo’s script is that it encompasses both comical and somber times. The two had to work diligently in order to execute the act smoothly and successfully.

“I really like that their piece has humorous moments and serious moments, I think that balance is really important,” Denney Bull said.

Since they first started their script in December, the duo has been hard at work practicing and perfecting their performance. Jacobsen and Clausen consistently practice at least 2-3 times a week for a couple hours each time.

“Julia and Rook are strong performers independently, but they’ve done a nice job of prioritizing practice time together to make sure that their event is successful,” Denney Bull said.

All of their practice proved worthwhile, as the pair placed first in State Forensics, allowing them to qualify for National Speech and Debate (NSDA) in Phoenix, Arizona on June 10-17.

“It was very rewarding to see all our hard work paying off,” Clausen said.

However, practicing is only part of the pair’s success. Communication  is the other half.

“Being in a duo, you really have to communicate well with each other. Competitions are 12 hours long so it’s a lot of taking care of yourself, making sure your partner’s OK, and a lot of planning,” Clausen said.

The duo’s speech is about 10 minutes long, and is constantly changing. This is to prevent a rehearsed feel to their presentation so the speech feels fresh each time they perform it.

“The final version that we’re going to take to Nationals is going to be completely different from what we started with,” Jacobsen said.

As the duo prepares for Nationals, they continue to learn and grow as they put their best words forward.