Duties: Concessions for plays, homecoming booth participation, Voyage to Excellence, Thespian Initiation of new members, field trips to plays and activities. Thespians also coordinate activities with the Parent's support group for Competitive Speech and Dramatic arts.

Fees and membership: The Educational Theatre Association 2343 Auburn Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219-2819 (Fax 513-421-7055) is the head quarters for the International Society. The website is www.etassoc.org

Description of Thespian Production/Performance Related Activities

CHILDREN’S PLAY

(Early fall)

 This full-scale production of children's classics offers drama students the opportunity to entertain and to educate community elementary school students who attend performances at H-F. See Ms. Grzeskiewicz for more information. Thespian points are earned and assigned by director. Recent productions include Still Life with Iris and The Falling Moon.

MUSICAL

(Usually in November but in January 2006 due to auditorium renovation)

These full-scale musicals include classics and Broadway hits. This production allows you to show off your singing and dancing talents. Be apart of a three-night performance schedule. See Ms. Bonavia for more information. Points are earned for all theatre related activities. Recent productions include Once Upon a Mattress, Ragtime and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Thespians are expected to sell concessions at the three performances. (The 2005-2006 production of Damn Yankees will be held on January 12, 13, and 14, 2006 due to the renovation of our theatre this fall.)

PERFORMANCE IN THE ROUND

(Runs parallel to the Speech team)

Students are selected by the head speech coach to perform a fifteen-minute selection of a play in an arena setting. Twice, students have won the IHSA state championship. Students perform the presentation in large groups for the school and participate in regional, sectional, and state competitions. H-F’s 1999 state championship play was "Pullman Car Hiawatha;” HF won the first Performance In the Round state championship with The Grapes of Wrath's "Two A Penny" in 1997.

CONTEST PLAY

(Performs in the IHSA competitions and SWSC Festival in March)

 Among the most recognized programs in the nation, this program won its 17th state championship in 2002 with Othello. The program has one of the finest technical programs in the state. Each March over 40 students tour with the play formerly at the SICA Festival, now at the SWSC Festival and the IHSA state series. Previous productions have been recognized by state and national organizations. Recent productions include Night Sky, The Dumbwaiter, and Medea. Previous shows include such challenging material the works of Brecht, Lorca, Aeschylus, Friel, and various Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize authors. Points are awarded as the dramatic team performs for school, parents and interscholastic series. See Mr. Rose for more information.

GROUP INTERPRETATION

(Performs in the IHSA competitions and SWSC Festival in March)

This performance art form involves an ensemble of readers who perform a literary selection with the specific skills that are similar to Reader's Theatre. HF won the IHSA State Championships in 2000 with Great Expectations and in 1996 with The Catcher in the Rye .  In addition, the H-F’s production of Young Frankenstein won second place at the 1999 IHSA State Competition. Recent productions include the 2005 Sectional Championship production of The Five People You Meet in Heaven; the 2004 production of Candide, which placed 4th in the State; and the 2002 production of The Great Gatsby, which placed 5^th in the state. Thespians typically perform or assist in the support system that helps with travel and publicity. Points are given for participation. See Jill Bonavia-Galligani for more details. 

SPRING PLAY

(Early May)

In 1999, H-F students dazzled audiences with A Midsummer Night’s Dream – complete with a waterfall and outdoor garden placed inside onstage. 

Over 25 actors and another 40 technical students participated.  Recent productions include Our Town, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Scapin. The spring play at H-F has been recognized by several state organizations for its superior quality. Previous shows include Lost in Yonkers, The Boys Next Door, Light Up the Sky and a host of Broadway hits that are seen in student large groups and spring evening performances. Thespians are in charge of concessions. See Mr. Rose for more details.

Summer Theatre

(Corresponds with summer school)

This program provides a summer opportunity for students (from kindergarten through senior year) to participate in the staging of a full-scale children's play. Recent productions include The Wizard of Oz and the musicals You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.  Students who sign up for the program perform and work on the technical aspects of the production as well.  In 2004, H-F’s Summer Theatre Program won the Illinois Theatre Associations “Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Theatre Award,” granted to only one children’s theatre program in the state.  Thespians are welcome to sign up to perform or volunteer to assist in the program.

Supplementary Acting and Technical Opportunities

Acting opportunities to fine-tune skills with both the novice speech team which starts in October. Among its 13 events are humorous duet acting, dramatic duet acting, dramatic interpretation, humorous interpretation, prose reading, and original comedy. Students are recruited in September. There are 26 new openings each year on the novice speech team. Students attend contests in November and early December. The varsity speech team competes in invitational, SWSC, and IHSA competition from November through February. Team members are top winners and frequently are invited to perform outside of school or at state competition. The National Forensic Competition in the spring offers duo interpretation skills as students act out plays.

Acting opportunities also are developed in the curricular classes. Students have the opportunity to enroll in ELECTIVE ACTING classes. Among these are ACTING in which students explore physical, vocal, and interpretation skills for selected scene work. Warm-up activities, improvisation, and fundamental acting skills are developed. In THEATRE PRODUCTION, students explore those elements that contribute to a full-scale production and performance. Typically class members perform a one-act play for other classes. ADVANCED THEATRE PERFORMANCE provides enrichment opportunities. Students engage in advanced study of characterization, scripting original works, and ensemble acting projects or plays. TECHNICAL THEATRE I AND II provide continuous opportunities to develop skills in technology and process these skills through set construction, lighting, sound, props, costuming and publicity.

The English department offers a field based study sequence in DRAMATIC LIT I and DRAMATIC LIT II. These two yearlong courses provide not only the study of classic and contemporary dramas and comedies through analysis, but they also provide one of the nation's finest secondary school playwriting programs. These popular ENGLISH courses are offered at the HONORS and REGULAR level. Students enroll in these classes as their junior/senior track of our four-year English requirement. Those students seeking to use this class as a FINE ARTS STATE REQUIREMENT should see their guidance counselor for more information. See Ms. Bonavia for more details about these curricular offerings. (708) 335-5767