Theatre is an important aspect of our school’s culture – so much so that there’s an entire honor society dedicated to it.
International Thespian Society, or ITS, is a troupe for thespians who have worked in both performance and tech theatre. Following inductions, students follow a point-based system based on their role in productions that determines their rank within ITS.
“The International Thespian Society is a nationally recognized honor society that rewards students for their commitment to excellence in theatre arts. Students are required to accrue 10 points to be eligible for induction. This equals roughly 100 hours of work in theatre!” said ITS Sponsor Mrs. Christa Vogt. “These hours need to be in at least two areas of work. So, for example, a student can get points/hours in performing and technical production work, or management and playwriting, and so on.”
Not only is the element of the point system universal amongst ITS troupes across the nation, but each has a group of elected officers who represent the group and keep it running.
Troupe #4687’s officers include President Caleigh Howell, Vice President Phaedra Diacopoulos, Treasurer Jianna Thompson, Secretary Savnnah Coulter, and co-historians Melaina Robinson and Charlie Veverka.
“As ITS President I am in charge of leading discussions at meetings, overseeing how our small little group functions, making sure we are all productively communicating and working with Mrs. Vogt, our ITS sponsor, at certain events and tables to help advertise and encourage member involvement with the honor society,” said Howell. “One thing that’s really crucial to the way we as the officers function together in the ‘all hands on deck’ type of work we do.”
ITS work isn’t only “all hands on deck” for officers, but the rest of the participating members, too. A huge part of theatre requires working as an ensemble, despite each person having a different role.
“My personal experience has been fantastic, the best part being last year’s 24-hour theatre festival where my team won. I look forward to every meeting,” said Diacopoulos.
Each officer’s different job is necessary to contribute to the overall success of ITS.
“I write down any important dates, times, ideas, etc. and make sure we have a record of what we discussed. I was inducted last year as one of three freshmen and it was an awesome moment,” said Coulter.
In addition to keeping a record of plans and ideas, the officers keep track of their funds and rankings established by the point system.
“I’m the ITS treasurer, but it’s more so the ITS calculator. I help calculate the points for our thespians and rank-ups. Later in the year, I help with our fundraisers,” said Thompson.
The International Thespian Society also hosts an ITS Awards Season Finale where students not only receive awards they’ve earned throughout the theatre season but view a spoof made of the season by the graduating class and a commemorative video made by the ITS historian(s).
“I mostly take pictures of theater events for the school, both during production and behind-the-scenes. I’m here to make sure the theater events here are remembered,” said Veverka.
“[We] get to share these photos for a ‘Year in Review’ presentation in May when all productions have been completed. It’s fun to look back on the entire year of theatre with everyone too,” added Robinson.
Each year, the troupe’s work goes toward the annual ITS-sponsored event. In pre-pandemic years, students put on interactive Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre with Chef V’s catering students and teacher Maggie Wilson’s AVID students. Last year kicked off the previously mentioned 24-hour Theatre Festival, where students have 24 hours to write, produce, and perform ten-minute plays based on a theme given to them at the beginning of the event.
“We are sponsoring this event again and are very excited about it. The kickoff this year is after school on Friday, April 26th, and the creative teams have [approximately] 24 hours until the tech rehearsal begins,” said Vogt. “The performance is April 27th at 6:00 PM in the Schola, and tickets will be available on GoFan two weeks prior. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. It feels different this year because now we have a template to follow whereas last year we were working from scratch. It was a successful and fun event last year, and we look forward to fine-tuning some things this time around.”
If you have any questions about ITS, you can visit Mrs. Vogt in room 400 or ask one of the officers.
