What a Drama Teacher Does in the Summer, Part 4

So why go to the International Thespian Conference, especially if you do not have a thespian troupe? It is a tremendous week of high school theatre with no requirements to attend. This past week it was at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

So what goes on for that week? More than fifty productions are presented by schools from throughout North America and abroad, a full schedule of workshops are offered by theatre professionals, as well as individual performance events and a student playwriting program.  It also gives students the opportunities to audition for college and university representatives and Thespian scholarships, and a chance to hang out with other students who love theatre.

When we attended the conferences I met wonderful people, saw some great shows — which I later produced — and took incredible classes as well as picked up some much needed credits to further my climb up the seniority list. My students and I all went to something different and would share what we learned each night. We always left the conferences with a wealth of wonderful new theatre information. This sharing of ideas was the very best thing we all gained from the conferences — except one thing!

One of the shows we saw was Catch Me If You Can performed by a Florida troupe, a great production and mystery, one we did several years later.  When I retired in 2000 one of my kids had a going away party for me at the theatre that had been my home away from home for 37 years. Many of my students attended, several from out of town. One in particular was a young lady who had seen the mystery when she attended the conference. She also brought her husband.  He had been the lead in that production and they had met again when she was working in a theatre company in Florida and married — so really great things can happen at these conferences!