On Friday, April 10, students from Westerville South Thespian Troupe 513 boarded a bus headed to Chillicothe for the annual state conference of the International Thespian Organization. About 1,089 thespians attended, representing 72 high schools from across Ohio.
Along with the expected scholarship and awards ceremonies, the weekend included a number of theatrical performances from many different troupes across the state.
Shows performing included productions of “Suffs”, and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” along with other varieties of both musicals and plays.
The conference provides students with the opportunity to connect with thespian leadership and get to see shows from other schools in an effort to learn and grow their own abilities and skills on and off the stage.
The conference also serves as a way to celebrate all aspects of theatre, from techies to directors and everything in between.
Some attendees participated in the production of the All-Ohio show, “Ragtime;” whereas, others primarily focused on the workshops available for students to participate in, with a range of focuses from stage combat to set design.
The conference also serves as an important way to raise funds for the thespian program as a whole from the admission and attendance prices, and also helps to raise money for thespian scholarships to support troupe thespians from across Ohio.
South had several troupe members nominated for various awards, with Nicki Ducy, head of the theatre boosters, winning the Arts Advocate of the Year award, given to a person who goes out of their way to champion the arts for all students.
Senior Rachel Kuta, member of South’s board for tech won a scholarship, and two of South’s teams won second and third place in the conference’s tech challenges.
Matthew Wolfe, director of South’s Troupe 513, said in regards to student participation in workshops, “My hope is that there are enough options in programming and classes that all of the South students are able to learn more about what they love, reinforce the knowledge they are learning at South, or even find a new aspect of theatre they never considered before.”
South’s had lots of members acting in the 2026 All-Ohio show, “Ragtime”, as well. Senior Micah Carnes played Coalhouse Walker Jr. and along with other South thespians, worked to make “Ragtime” one of the best All-Ohio shows performed in recent memory.
Sophomore Elaina Mariscal said, “Ragtime opened my eyes to so many other talented highschoolers from freshmen to seniors and they portrayed such an impactful show almost perfectly.”
Wolfe also added, “Ragtime was definitely our biggest stretch in terms of scope and size of show. Other than that, not really anything out of the ordinary.”
Wolfe also commented on how important the state conferences have been as a staple in his life since he was in high school, and how they’ve stuck with him throughout his teaching career.
“I have attended nearly every state conference since 1996, when I was a freshman in high school as a student, college recruiter, director, teacher, chapter leader, teaching artist, and board member,” he said. “I really love this conference and everything that it encompasses for students.”
