By Arik Espinosa, staff writer
Here comes our troop- that is, the Thespian Troupe. Indian Trail’s drama team has returned for another year of fun and excitement. Now, what exactly is a thespian?
Thespians are a group of people that work in theatre, whether they are people who are actors performing before an audience or those working the lights to make the illusion of the stage look more realistic.
Thespian Troupes include students in grades 9-12, and Junior Thespian troupes include students in grades 6-8. There are troupes in more than 4,000 high schools and middle schools around the country.
Members fundraise to help each other go to activities offered. The two main fundraisers for the Indian Trail troupe are the state festival, where all plays from around the state compete to go to the finals, and the Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Neb.
From car washes to spaghetti dinners, the thespians troupes do whatever they can to get closer to achieving their goals.
“Having a Thespian troupe at your school raises the profile and stature of your theatre program, making both your school and community aware of the activities and success of your students,” said Genesis Brito, an ITHS&A student and presi- dent of the Thespian Troupe.
“Schools have a Thespian troupe that is led by a troupe director—usually the school’s theatre teacher,” Brito said. “Students may then earn an invitation to be inducted into the Thespian Society.”
At Indian Trail, the teacher that supervises the club is Robert Allen, or “Bob”, as the people in the theatre call him. However, the club is run by the students and all the fundraising ideas come from them as well. The club meets every Monday after school until 4:30 p.m..
Their president is Genesis Brito; vice president, Annalise Voyles; secretary, Andrew Dorst; and historian, Shomari Kirkwood
The International Thespian Society (ITS) is the Educational Theatre Association’s student honorary organization. ITS recognizes the achievements of high
school and middle school theatre students. Since 1929, EdTA has inducted more
than 2 million Thespians into ITS. That number continues to grow, with more than
36,000 students from around the count~ry being inducted each year.