On Thursday, March 20th, the GHHS drama students had the privilege of attending the WA State Thespian Conference in Seattle. Following their hard-earned wins at the regional Thespys, the participants were honored to kick back and immerse themselves for two days in the bustling atmosphere of the Seattle convention center. Over 2000 students from across Washington packed together in the convention center to engage in numerous theater experiences. Here the Tides were able to enjoy showcases, workshops, and competitions. The 75-minute workshops provided to students were highly engaging and wildly varied in the craft they taught. Areas of interest ranged from clowning workshops, where students were offered clown makeup, to team empathy building. “My favorite thing about Thespys was just getting to learn from more people outside of the school and people who kind of have achievements and stuff in the field,” said Anabelle Harvey (11).
“My favorite workshop was probably ‘The Roughneck Rough House Stage Combat.’ A very weird, specific title, but it was a lot of fun because it was almost kind of like learning experienced street fighting, like in movies that you see. Like a drunken fight. It looks like they’re not like professional fighters, but like they’ve done a few fights before,” said Ellie McFarlane (11). The colorfully named Roughneck Rough House workshop taught students how to stylistically fistfight in the inelegant but rollicking style of a street brawl. Lessons included stage techniques designed to make action look believable, such as slapping your chest when taking a swing to deliver the sound effect of someone having been struck.
Not only did the Thespys Conference offer performance-based classes, but they also included tech workshops at the 5th Ave Theater, where you were given the opportunity to go backstage and work with crew, lighting, and more. Similar to the categories open to students to participate in at Regional Thespys, the theater categories at State are many.
A crucial piece of numerous musicals and other performance arts is, of course, dance. Maddison Gaffaney (11) claimed her favorite workshop to be the Intro to Tap. “We just went through a couple of moves and were taught the basics of tap, warmed up, and then we combined it together and made it into a dance,” said Gaffaney, who claimed her favorite part of the event was the interaction between peers and getting to see everyone have fun and hang out together. Nojo Young (11) was an enthusiastic participant in improv workshops. “It’s kind of fun on the spot. You know, they connect some basic ideas, like you don’t shut down anybody with ideas, and then we kind of played improv games and just got it flowing with ourselves and our partners,” Young stated. Among the joys of the open learning space, Young enjoyed the new scene. “I like going with all my friends… I like getting out. I’ve never been to the convention center, so that was fun to see.”
Though it was mostly fun and games for the Tides, many students described their experience with the Empathy workshop as being ‘intense.’ Carly Ikai (12) described the Empathy class as a workshop where students are asked a question, typically yes or no, and depending on their answer, file to either side of the room. In this way empathy is built by looking around you and getting a visual of your peers in a new way, knowing things you may not have guessed otherwise. Questions got progressively more personal over the course of the class until, by the end, serious depth was being breached. Students Ikai and Eleanor Trott (12) laughed as they described walking out of the class arm in arm, traumatized.
The highlight for many, and the catalyst for a spark of inspiration, were the performances of Hades Town that our Tides had the joy to watch. Show cuttings from other schools were performed at the Grand Parlor in Seattle, with Hades Town being the star. “I absolutely loved the Hades Town one. Two schools did Hades Town, one on Thursday and one on Friday, and it struck the idea in everyone of something that we would really like to do,” said McFarlane, claiming that her favorite part of Thespys were these showings. Upon this viewing, our drama department got thinking and is currently rooting for the school to hold summer shows of our own Hades Town, acting as both a passion project and a fundraiser for next year’s drama events. From 6 am to 6 pm the Tides engaged in workshops, met with professionals, enjoyed the company of fellow enthusiasts, and witnessed a show to inspire. Keep your fingers crossed as our theater makes a case for the rights to the show, and continue to support a family of passionate students!