Finally, it’s time to compete; as a stage manager, your competitions look different. You bring your prompt book into the room with you; it’s filled with your script and all your notes from the most recent show. You’ve got seven minutes to explain not only your process, but how you helped your school’s theatre run their show, as well as to explain how your prompt book is organized. The Spotlight Players stage manager, senior Jack Lesch, is going to step into this very situation for the third time this upcoming January at Thescon.

Thescon (Thespian-Convention) is a large convention where theatre students from across the state will meet to hone their skills in workshops, network, and potentially compete for scoring to assist them in their development as actors or stage technicians. This upcoming year, it runs from Jan. 8-10 at Union Station. One of the largest parts is the classes that students can sign up for according to their own interests. Senior Sydney Limpert, for example, enjoys picking a wide variety of classes to try new things. 

“I really enjoy getting to go to the different workshops, because there was one my sophomore year where it was a costume workshop, and we got to make a ’60s-inspired outfit,” Limpert said. “Then there was one where it was stage fighting. So there was like, how to punch somebody… how to choke someone out on stage and make it look real.”

It goes beyond fun and games; these workshops present opportunities for students to network with colleges and professionals in the industry. This can also come in the form of the nightly shows that go on. Kimberly Harrison, the theatre director, stated that these shows could be considered the main event.

“Main stage are the shows that we have every night. Every night, we see a show that another school has put up for adjudication and has been chosen throughout the state,” Harrison said.

While these shows give students the chance to see what is possible when they hone their craft, they also give recruiters and professionals the opportunity to discover new talent for their own productions. Additionally, these conferences give students new opportunities to hear new ways to improve their skills while also getting to show off their hard work. Among our students participating in these competitions is sophomore Brayden Kirchner, who is doing a duet scene with his partner Olivia Carlton.

“This year I’m performing, so I’m a little nervous about that,” Kerchner said. “I’m just practicing my lines and making sure I have them memorised.”

Similarly,  Limpert is focusing on her improv skills in order to help her in improv workshops and in competitions.

“I’m going to be working on more quick-wittedness and using pauses, because pauses can be funny. We just want to make sure they’re intentional and not awkward pauses of ‘I don’t know what to say or do,’” Limpert said. “I’m going to make sure that I’m making some funny face, or a slow turn that fills the space with something for the audience to look at and laugh at, rather than just standing there looking around, going, ‘what the heck was that? What do I do now?’”

Currently, Harrison and Francis Howell North’s theatre director, Taylor Doverspike, have put in an application of their own to host an improv workshop. While still awaiting approval, it holds an interesting concept.

“We are applying to put on a workshop in conjunction {with Francis Howell North] we are proposing to do [an] improv workshop on [Shakespearean style speech],” Harrison said.

During recent months, students have been able to utilize fundraisers to help pay for scholarships to Thescon. Lesch is one of a couple who are going free, while others have large discounts on registration and boarding costs.

“We’ve given a lot of our people scholarships thanks to the fundraiser money we made. I’m going for free, which is pretty cool… So are two other people, and a lot of us are getting a massive discount off it,” Lesch said.

Overall, Thescon is presenting a massive opportunity for the theatre students to learn and grow. It also provides time to network with other competitors while having fun with their peers as a part of growing their theatre skills.