Allowing students involved in the arts to connect with others and learn from workshops, the Nebraska Thespian Festival is a three-day event for students across the state where many shows are put on at the Holland Center, something that the One Act program had the opportunity to do this year.
“My favorite part of the festival is honestly just watching the shows and the amazing performances that people put on,” junior Claire Hayworth said. “It’s really captivating to see how much time they put into it.”
Aside from watching shows and sharpening their skills in workshops, eight students competed on the Gretna East improv team. With 21 groups competing, the team made it through the qualifying round Thursday night and competed with the other top nine groups on Friday. The qualifying round consisted of creating a 5-minute scene out of a given prompt and on Friday, the team played three different improv games to fight for a spot in the top four. Although the team didn’t qualify for the final round, the team still had a positive experience.
“My friends were on the improv team, and I thought it would be really cool to try because I’ve never really done that kind of acting before,” Hayworth said. “It was cool. I really enjoyed it.”
Additionally, Head One Act Coach, Nicole Schlautman, received the invitation from one of the festival’s production coordinators, Erienne McCabe, for her team to perform on the Holland stage for the festival and knew her students would be ecstatic to perform, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” one last time.
“It felt great to perform on a professional stage, and I believe we did very well considering the new environment and the fact that we hadn’t run the show in a few weeks,” junior Eli Reinarz said.
However, the team faced a few difficulties and made adjustments to the show at their Jan. 2, performance because the Holland stage was significantly different from their home stage. They rehearsed over winter break to refresh the show in their minds and worked out any problems they would face in the new space.
“I loved our performance at the Holland,” Schlautman said. “It was awesome to get to sit in the audience and not worry about competition, just to enjoy it and watch the audience around me enjoy it was a great experience.”
After performing, 23 students in the Gretna East Thespian Troupe 11332, many of whom are involved in the One Act program, got to spend the weekend in downtown Omaha appreciating theater. They attended acting, dancing, singing and technical workshops to improve their skills and watched five other schools perform various musicals and plays.
Besides the many learning opportunities at the festival, it’s also a place to meet new people interested in the same things.
“I like being a part of that safe space where everyone shares a passion,” Kiley Luchsinger, Drama Club sponsor said. “I enjoy taking students to the festival because we get to share that passion with students from all over the state.”