Local High School Thespians Honored with Main Stage Selection for International Thespian Festival

Eleven schools were selected as a Main Stage show for the 2020 International Thespian Festival, an honor achieved by only 11 high school productions in the nation. The invitations are based on productions that were adjudicated last fall and winter.

The International Thespian Festival (ITF) produced by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), celebrates student achievement in the performing arts and technical theatre. The 57th event, which this year, because of COVID-19, is being transformed into the first-ever Virtual International Thespian Festival will take place the last week of June. The virtual event will celebrate the schools selected for this honor, and feature streams or highlights from the productions.

The highly coveted invitation signals achievement of superior work in theatre according to EdTA's Events Director Nancy Brown. "It is a real honor," she explains, "because we send screening teams out all across the U.S. and Canada during the school year and only 11 schools are selected. These Thespian troupes have earned a slot among those honored few."

Noteworthy this year is the selection of the New Albany High School, home of International Thespian Troupe 4501, from New Albany, Indiana. Troupe 4501 is one of four schools awarded the 2020 Outstanding School Award, which is awarded to programs that exemplify and promote high standards of quality in educational theatre.

About the Educational Theatre Association, home of the International Thespian Society
The Educational Theatre Association is an international association with more than 135,000 active members. EdTA's mission is shaping lives through theatre education: honoring student achievement in theatre; supporting teachers by providing professional development, resources, and recognition; and influencing public opinion that theatre education is essential and builds life skills. EdTA is the home of the International Thespian Society, an honorary organization established at nearly 5,000 schools, that has inducted more than 2.4 million theatre students since its founding in 1929. EdTA also produces the International Thespian Festival and publishes Dramatics magazine in print and online for high school theatre students, and Teaching Theatre, a journal for theatre education professionals. The Educational Theatre Foundation is the philanthropic arm of EdTA.

9 to 5
Director: Shawn Hann
Denver School of the Arts, Troupe 5869
Denver, Colorado

THE SPITFIRE GRILL
Director: Elizabeth Lambert
Marcus High School, Troupe 4268
Flower Mound, Texas

QUILTERS
Director: Karen Rymar
Orange County School of the Arts,
Troupe 6826
Santa Ana, California

PUFFS: OR SEVEN INCREASINGLY EVENTFUL YEARS AT A CERTAIN MAGIC SCHOOL
Director: Terry Gabbard
Ardrey Kell High School, Troupe 7935
Charlotte, North Carolina

MY FAIR LADY
Director: Amy Miller
New Albany High School, Troupe 4501
New Albany, Indiana

THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Director: Tim Broeker
Urbana High School, Troupe 161
Urbana, Illinois

A CHORUS LINE
Director: Corey Mitchell
Northwest School of the Arts School, Troupe 5634
Charlotte, North Carolina

GUYS & DOLLS
Director: Robbie Steiner
Floyd Central High School, Troupe 1794
Floyd Knobs, Indiana

LOST IN YONKERS
Director: Todd Schnake
Raymore-Peculiar High School,
Troupe 3964
Peculiar, Missouri

SOMETHING ROTTEN
Director: Holly Stanfield
Bradford High School, Troupe 4982
Kenosha, Wisconsin

ALL MY SONS
Director: Leslie Coates
Paola High School, Troupe 66
Paola, Kansas