On Nov. 14, a few members of the MavTheatre company attended the annual ‘Texas Thespians State Festival’. Texas Thespians is a branch of the EdTA (Educational Theatre Association) that serves especially as an honor society for middle to high-school students.
Each year, they host a state festival that focuses on skills and improvements of young actors and technicians with events like workshops, performances, and competitions. Although they’ve been holding them for decades, this year was only the second time that our company has gotten to attend.
“Last year was a lot of fun, this year there was a lot less to do. Last year, there were a lot more options for [the] workshops and a variety of things we wanted to do.” Junior Sophie (Star) Tyler said. “This year, there wasn’t a lot of workshops that stuck out and that I super wanted to go to.”
Despite liking last year’s events better, Tyler still enjoyed being able to attend Texas Thespians again this year. Acting and improvising are the main aspects of the festival, of course, but there are many other aspects that draw the actors in.
“I just thought it’d be a really good way to make more memories with people in the theater, and just a good bonding time.” Senior Fiana McKillop explained. “I thought I really bonded with a lot of people there.”
Community is especially important to the members of this company. Even during tournaments, actors ensure to take time to reassure their peers, still prioritizing each other in the heat of competition.
“Everybody in my competition room was very supportive, which was really nice,” Tyler said. “A lot of them were just like ‘Do your best’ [and] ‘You’re gonna do great’, and then after we all met up and were like ‘You all did amazing’ .”
Texas Thespians not only gave our company a chance to meet other students and professionals from outside our district, but it gave them the opportunity to reflect and improve on their personal skills. Whether it be acting, memorizing, leadership or technician abilities, each attendee was able to analyze their performance and decide what they want to improve on.
“I’m probably gonna prep a lot more with my director for my presentation.” Senior Madelyn Cregar said. “I’m going to nationals for it so I’m gonna put a lot more time and effort into my presentation for stage management that I’m going for.”
The next EdTA event that MavTheatre gets to attend is the “International Thespian Festival”. It is held for the advancers of the state fair and will be held in Indiana on June 21, 2026.
