INDEPENDENCE – Independence Jr/Sr High School students traveled to the University of Northern Iowa on November 15 and 16 to participate in the Iowa Thespian festival. The Iowa Thespian Festival is an annual event sponsored by the Iowa Educational Theatre Association and consists of performances, auditions, and workshops that students from all across Iowa participate in.
Our very own Thespian troupe performed/participated at the festival in the events of Musical Theater, costume design, marketing, acting, Improv, and One Act. Nine of the students performed the one act play titled, “I don’t want to talk about it†by Bradley Hayward. The play tells the story of how being a teenager is hard and how as a teen you confront challenges like dealing with parents who just don’t get it, rumors, bullying, and suicide.
In the category of Costume Construction, Annalys Turci (senior) placed Second in the state for her Alice in Wonderland — Queen of Hearts dress that she wore for her role as the Queen of Hearts for Independence’s fall play show this year. She is now qualified for the International Thespian festival in 2025.
Congratulations to all of the students that participated in the various events. Please follow the troupe on Instagram to get updates about the upcoming events happening all across the theater department: stangsstudio11784
Speech season is starting!
It is speech season once again at the Independence Jr. Sr. High! As of now large group speech placements are being decided and the groups will begin practicing very soon. This year’s Large group coaches are Maddie Wegmann and Andria Anderson. Their schedule for the large group season looks like:
- January 20, 2025 — Large Group WaMaC contest at West Delaware
- January 25, 2025 — Large group District contest: location is TBD
- February 8th, 2025 — Large group State contest at Decorah
- February 22, 2025 — Large Group All-State contest at Iowa State University, Ames
Wish these students and their coaches the best of luck as they begin their season and come support the team if you can!
