Several Parkers Chapel High School Theatre students and Thespian Troupe members earned high accolades at the virtual State Thespian Festival earlier this month. Two of the students now have the opportunity to present their work during the 2021 International Thespian Festival, currently set for June.
Sophomores Maddy Couture and Hannah Elizabeth both earned the top Superior ranking in the competition, while sophomore Ellery Palculict received an Excellent rating.
Couture and Elizabeth will be the students who will submit work in the International festival.
PCHS Theatre instructor Tracye Couture said the students elected to submit contrasting (one dramatic and one comedic) monologues clocking in under three minutes.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Couture said.
The state festival was virtual this year, so the students had to film their monologues and send them off to be considered by the three-person panel of judges.
“It’s been such a different year. It has had some challenges but the students worked so hard. We submitted video, and that in itself was strange because kids do better with an audience. But they were great, I was so proud of them,” Couture said.
The festival also had a number of workshops from industry professionals on a wide variety of subjects.
“The kids had the chance to sit in for these Zoom workshops. They learned so much and made some great connections. I was so excited to hear these industry professionals tell them about the importance of education and hard work. That’s one of the main things I heard - that you have to put in hard work and get an education,” Couture said.
Couture and students participated in the 2020 state festival as well, an experience she said greatly benefited the burgeoning actors.
Last year the group presented three performances - group, duet and monologue - all of which received Excellent rankings, scores Couture said are very impressive in a statewide competition.
“The feedback we got from industry professionals last year was tremendous - the kids went over the comments and grew from that. In a smaller town, we don’t always get that kind of feedback. They were able to sit in front of adults who didn’t know them and get very good feedback from them,” she said.
The International Festival will also offer workshops and further opportunities to interact with industry professionals and garner feedback.
The festival experience, Couture said, represents the exact benefits she desired for the students when forming the school’s Thespian Troupe #8889 .
“The communication, leadership skills, development of empathy - those skills are valuable for every walk of life. I’ve seen so much growth from them. The International Thespian Festival also has big networking opportunities and professors from colleges all over. The state and International Thespians also offer great scholarship opportunities,” she said.
Maddy and Hannah, the students who received Superior rankings, were also offered $12,000 scholarships to the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia based on their performances.
Couture said her Theatre 2 class is currently preparing for a school play which will double as a fundraiser for the costs of attending the International festival.
“We’ll have all the social distancing and safety precautions. It’s a fun show called Check Please about a really bad series of first dates. It will probably be sometime in April and we’re looking to use it as a fundraiser. The International festival still costs money to go to,” Couture said.
Couture said that performing is an important for students and, despite limitations imposed by COVID-19, they plan to find a way to stage a performance.
“There are a lot of restrictions to putting on a show but it’s doable. These kids need a creative outlet,” Couture said.