The UIL One-Act Play contest is a competition where similarly sized Texas schools present an 18-40 minute play and may be adjudicated by a panel of three judges or a single judge. The contest is held on a single day and open to the public.

There are six possible levels of competition: Zone, District, Bi-Distrct, Area, Region, and State. At each level of competition a judge awards individual acting awards as well as selecting three productions to advance to the next level of competition up to the Regional Level where only two will advance to the State Level. After the awards are announced a judge gives an oral critique to each of the schools. Area is the highest level achieved by McCallum in recent histoy.