Students prepare for Thespian Conference, meet with other drama students from Indy
March 12, 2008
By: Maria Lamagna <mlamagna@hilite.org>
After wrapping up their production of “The Secret Garden” this winter and competing in their regional competition Jan. 19, the drama department continues to be busy.
Students who are involved in various aspects of this school’s drama productions will attend their annual state Thespian Conference this weekend at the University of Indianapolis.
According to drama teacher Jim Peterson, participation in the conference is not mandatory. In order to participate, students must first become members of this school’s thespian troupe. This means they must have worked either on stage or behind the scenes of a drama production.
They earn a certain number of points based on their participation; when they earn the 10 points necessary, they may become a member of the thespian troupe.
Peterson said that the conference is both a performance and a competition. Cast members from “The Secret Garden” will perform a selection from the production. Individual performers in the troupe will also compete in 18 different categories for distinctions like awards and scholarships.
Peterson said that to prepare, his students “have been rehearsing the cutting from ‘The Secret Garden.’ The students in the individual categories have been preparing pretty much on their own.” He also said that before they perform, drama teachers will help those students polish their pieces.
Senior Ella Raymont will participate in the state Thespian Conference for her first time ever. She has been part of the thespian troupe since she was a freshman. She said that this weekend is especially important for her because she will compete in the “solo musical” category for a scholarship from the Thespian Society.
As far as preparation, Raymont said that her experience participating in choir and school productions will definitely help. According to her, she gets practice during those classes.
Also, she said it has been most important to “practice a lot and pick material (to perform) within your range.”
Junior Rohan Dharan will compete this weekend as well. This is his first year in the thespian troupe. He said that to prepare, he has practiced scenes with a partner in addition to attending after-school rehearsals with his fellow thespians.
Dharan has never participated in the state competition before now. However, based on his participation and experience in the regional competition in January, Dharan said that he expects the troupe to perform well this weekend.
“We just had a regional competition, and I think we will definitely do better (than we did then),” he said. “By the time (the state competition) comes, we will be ready. It’s hard for me to say how we will do compared to other years because this is my first year, but I definitely think when the time (to perform in the contest) comes we’ll be prepared.”
Traditionally, the drama students and Thespian troupe from this school have been extremely successful at the conference. Peterson said that his students seem just as ready to attend the Conference this year.
“I think we’ll do pretty well,” he said. “We are very strong on the individual events and the scholarship (categories) as well. We expect some success.”
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