Northwest Academy Thespians to Attend State Festival

The annual Oregon Thespian’s State Festival will take place April 3-5 in Salem, Ore., and Northwest Academy is sending a group of 20 students.

The festival is available to all high schoolers who wish to participate in the numerous theater events so long as their school is not over the participant capacity. Troupe Directors must also attend. The Troupe Director for Northwest Academy is Arts Coordinator and teacher Wade Willis. All troupes are required to contribute either a workshop or a one-act performance to the event.

This year, Northwest Academy will be bringing the maximum number of participants to the State Festival. Last year was the first time Northwest Academy attended the event, and only seven students participated. This change is expected to drastically alter the experience for Northwest Academy Thespians this year as well as how they are perceived by others at the event.

This year, Willis was non-exclusive in his selections for State participants.

“Each Thespian school in the state can register up to 20 students and two chaperones,” Willis said. “Coincidentally, we had exactly 20 students who wanted to go and two chaperones. In the future, if more students want to go than we can take, then the decision will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to the number of thespian points a student has earned.”

Willis admitted that he views the decision as somewhat risky given that a large number of the participants have never taken a class with him before. He claimed that he is cautious when it comes to new students and whether or not they will behave properly.

“One of the biggest obstacles comes less from the number of students (attending the event this year) than it does from having students attend that I have never had in a class before and, therefore, don’t have much of a relationship with,” Willis said. “The students I have had in class, I know what boundaries and freedoms I need to set. With the new students, I am hoping that the learning curve with them getting to know me and me getting to know them is brief and uneventful.”

Willis also claimed that the increase of attendees will give Northwest Academy a more noticeable presence at the festival. Reactions to Willis’ decision have been mixed.

“I am very invested in the group and I think it is a great thing that we even have a Thespians troupe,” Clio McCormick, a freshman, said. “But I am also happy Wade is letting people who aren’t Thespians come along.”

Some thespians are cautious of the decision to bring more students this year because last year was so successful. This success has been attributed to the small number of students who participated in 2013.

“I’ve been to State once before, and it was a blast, but I’m a bit nervous seeing as we have such a large group this time.” Linnea Kelly, Treasurer for the Northwest Academy Thespian Board, said.

Additionally, some first-year participants are also skeptical about the number of students attending the event.

“I am a bit worried about the amount of people attending this year because of what I have heard about last year and how much fun it was with the small amount of people,” Chelsea Batchelor, a Northwest Academy Thespian, said. “But I am sure everything is going to be great!”

The festival is a major opportunity for Thespians wishing to improve their theatrical abilities. It features activities including over 50 workshops for both actors and technical workers, three major play productions, dozens of one-acts and performing opportunities. Each night of the event there will be a themed dance that is open to all Thespians. One of the themes is “fandom”and the other is “superheroes.”

Attendees are mainly focused on the task at hand, which is to take advantage of the numerous workshops and learning experiences. Even with the expansive social opportunities, Northwest Academy Thespians have their sights on theater.

“I am planning on focusing a lot on workshops and learning everything I can from people more experienced than I,” McCormick said. “I want to be able to be able to really bring everything I can to my acting and my performances.”

The intentions of the students reflect Willis’ expectations of the Thespians, which is that they will be a work-oriented group of individuals that are excited to act. Willis emphasized the importance of being a contributing member of the Thespians, and his students unanimously agreed that a mission-oriented Thespians class is ideal.

“I feel like contributions from everyone are important because it just is not fair if one person is always left with the job to clean up after everyone or to be the only person who asks to help out if they notice someone in need,” Batchelor said. “If everyone pitches in and helps out then things with get done much for efficiently and quickly.”

With more students than ever, Thespians have been forced to recognize the importance of acting as a team.

“Thespians is a collaborative group,” Kelly said. “To make it as fun and as good a tool as it can be, everyone involved needs to participate, be responsible for their own work, and try to create as positive an atmosphere as possible.”

Apart from the main festival, competitions for Thespian groups that placed in the top 10 percent during the Regional Thespian Auditions will be held. The competition will be held over various rounds, and the winners will be eligible to compete in the Individual Events competition at the International Thespian Festival, which will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska, in June.

The event is run by the Oregon Chapter of the International Thespian Society, which itself is a branch of The International Thespian Society. The organizations provide opportunities primarily for high school students, though a junior program exists for grades six through eight. This year, the festival is titled EVERYONE’S A THESPIAN.

Northwest Academy has been a member of the Educational Theatre Association and the International Thespian Society for four years.