February 8, 2024
ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–Township students once again took center stage for the New Jersey Thespian Festival, held last month at Robbinsville High School.
As the state’s largest annual student theater event, the New Jersey Thespian Festival focuses on performance and technical theater workshops, as well as competitions, auditions and community service projects, over the course of two days for students and educators.
Besides a weekend bursting with activity, Jan. 13-14, the event also hosts the annual recognition awards known as the “Thespys.” With bravos for all cast, crew and educators, the Thespian Festival awarded Robbinsville’s Troupe #7161 with Gold Honor Troupe status for its outstanding service and support in educational theater.
Two local students – Shreya Savur and Zach Peabody – received “Superior” rankings in the Musical Theater Solo and Lighting Design competition categories, respectively. A third student, Isabella Ghen, earned a $1,000 acting scholarship for a summer program with the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
“I knew Robbinsville students would be up against hundreds, if not thousands, of other young thespians. I got to see not only how our 30 thespians have grown over the last few months, but also how they felt about it,” said Blake Gonzales, theater arts teacher and director at Robbinsville High School, advisor of the RHS Raven Players, and Thespian Troupe #7161 director. “Our students impressed the judges and now have a new direction to take their acting and music prowess. It was so rewarding to witness.”
New Jersey Thespians is the state chapter of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), which sponsors the International Thespian Society (ITS). Honoring excellence in the work of theater students since 1929, ITS has troupes in more than 4,000 high schools and middle schools, mostly in the U.S. and Canada.
While the Thespian Festival is organized and planned by the New Jersey State Thespian’s chapter board, Robbinsville students lead efforts to set up and take down the festival space. This year, 1,132 students and educators from all over the state attended the Saturday session with 971 participants on Sunday.
As this was Gonzales’ first-ever Thespian Festival, she said it gave her extra energy to help students grow and improve. Looking to next year, Gonzales said, the experience equips her with more inspiration to improve, experiment with new challenges and ensure Robbinsville has an even greater presence at next year’s event.
The Thespian Festival is not just for the students, Gonzales said. Many of the workshops and lectures are aimed at theater educators.
“They really stress the importance of not only student growth, but also educator growth,” Gonzales said. “They bring in people from the professional world to help educators take their teaching and their styles in a new direction as well.”
At Robbinsville, Gonzales said the Thespian Troupe’s members stem from the high school’s Drama Club, known as the Raven Players. Along with other students, the 35 members participate in a Fall play and in a Spring musical run by the music department and Choir Director Brian Williams. This year’s Spring show will be “Chicago: Teen Edition” and will run from April 19 through 21. (Great seats, still available.)
Juniors Anusha Nandan and Mark Daily also attended the Thespian Festival for the first time as newly-inducted Troupe #7161 members. To gain admittance, students must meet the minimum eligibility requirement of 100 hours of quality work in theatre arts and related disciplines.
Involved with theater – both on stage and off – since elementary school, 16-year-old Anusha said she was inspired after her Thespian Festival experience. She competed in two categories – Contrasting Monologues and Musical Theater Solo.
For the monologues Anusha performed, one was from “Macbeth” and the second from a drama monologue book. She also sang “Stay With Me” from the musical “Into the Woods.” Both performances earned her a score of “Excellent,” which she was very proud to receive.
Next year, she will be aiming for the next level: “Superior.”
“I definitely enjoyed the festival. It was a lot of fun, and I learned so much,” said Anusha, who also took singing and acting workshops, including “Belting” and “Exploring Subtext in Musical Theater Acting.”
“When your scores come out, there are also notes from the judges that tell you what you could have done better and what you did well,” Anusha said. “I found those are the most helpful because they can help you find your strengths and your weaknesses and what you need to work on. Overall, it’s a really good learning experience.”
Focusing more on the technical side of the stage, Mark, 16, has been involved for four years. His expertise focuses in sound and building sets for shows. He especially loves exploring new technical programs, seeing how they work and how they can make the overall show even better.
“That’s how I got into sound,” he said. “I saw that the little board and those switches seemed cool. So, I said, ‘How do I how do I use it?’ It was a rabbit hole from there. I’m excited to keep going down to learn more.”
At the festival, Mark found the workshops to be both interesting and impressive.
“These are industry professionals teaching the classes,” he said. “They been doing this for 10, 20 years. There was one college professor who taught a workshop about playback software. I really enjoyed that because it was a pretty sore spot in my technical repertoire. Taking the class definitely helped me expand my understanding.”
Mark recommends people check out the Drama Club, even if they lack experience in the theater.
“Join it, try it out, see if it’s for you,” he said. “There’s always a spot for anybody who wants to be there.”
While neither Anusha nor Mark are sure if they will pursue theater as a college major, both know they will continue their involvement with the stage. And they, along with Gonzales, are already looking forward to bringing the curtain up on next year’s Thespian Festival.
“Theater – it’s so much fun to do, but it’s more than that – it’s the community you build along the way,” Anusha said. “These are people who you will forever remember – they will always have played a role in shaping your experience. These are people who help you; they nourish you. It’s an amazing experience.”
Nearly 30 Robbinsville High School students attended the annual New Jersey Thespian Festival held in January at the school. Members of Thespian Troupe #7161 participated in competitions and workshops and saw performances of their peers over the two-day event.