ITS State Conference Allows Students to Express Originality, Create New Experiences

Students being able to express their individuality and their creativity through their passions can help them achieve lifelong goals and can create opportunities that can shape the rest of their lives. For the twelve members of Parkway North’s International Thespian Society, Troupe 4554, that traveled to Kansas City for the annual state conference, the opportunity to learn and explore various areas of theatre could establish new options for their futures.

The conference, which took place at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown hotel from Jan. 7-9, consisted of various workshops that accommodated different regions and careers within the theatre industry. The workshops allowed students to get a hands on approach to their preferred areas of theatre.

“[The workshops] range from acting, to musicals, to dancing, to technical ones. Each workshop represents a different type of job in the production of a show,” said sophomore Nick Austin, who attended the conference.

Austin, took part a workshop called “You Can Get Paid for That,” which uncovered different jobs that someone who is trying to pursue a career in technical theatre could potentially achieve.

“There were not as many technical classes as in previous years, and it was a very acting heavy atmosphere, which was nice and new, but it made it hard to learn about different areas of theatre” said sophomore Molly Hursh, who also attended the conference.

The students drove to Kansas City on Wed., Jan. 6, with students from Parkway West, which allowed them to form new relationships that they would not otherwise be able to undergo.

“We rode up with West High School and got to know some of them and become friends with a lot of them. We also got to meet a lot of new people during workshops around Missouri,” Austin said.

With the next conference being hosted in St. Louis after being held in Kansas City the past two years, things are expected to be a little bit easier for ITS troupes living in the area.

“It will really change around our schedule because we won’t be leaving as early, and the atmosphere will be different,” Hursh said.

Besides the workshops, students performed and attended two plays at the end of the conference. This year’s selections included Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.

At the end of the conference, three of Parkway North’s ITS members, junior Mary Carter and sophomore Nick Austin, were selected for the All State show, which is Euripides’ play Iphigenia in Aulis, on Sat., Jan. 9, at Fontbonne University.

“What I really took back was being accepted into [the] all state show” said Austin.

Because these students were able to explore what they were passionate about in such a direct way, they could create new possibilities for themselves, and they were able to try out things that could positively affect them for the rest of their lives.

by Kyle Wolfe, staff writer, Social Media Mogul