TOWAMENCIN – Over this past weekend, North Penn High School hosted over 1,000 students, teachers, college representatives, and professional workshop instructors for this year’s Pennsylvania State Thespian Conference.

The North Penn theater department, which has been involved with the Pennsylvania State Thespian Chapter for the past fifteen years, was chosen to host the conference last spring because of the school’s size and well-equipped stage and classrooms.

“We are really thankful to the administration. Hosting the conference allowed us to show off our academic program and activities and gave other students the opportunity to use our facilities,” said Andrea Roney, head of the North Penn theater department.

Dedicated for months in planning this annual event, the state board of the Pennsylvania Thespian Chapter, along with the North Penn administration and theater department, organized a jam-packed three days for the students who attended the conference.

Throughout all three days, there were a variety of workshops created by each school and professional instructors for the students to attend. Some of the topics for the workshops included musical theater, technical production, and dance. Besides workshops, four schools were chosen by lottery to perform full-length productions. North Penn’s Pride and Prejudice was the opening performance on Thursday night, followed by Penn Manor’s Dracula and Central York’s Altar Boyz on Friday, and Upper Dublin’s Rabbit Hole on Saturday. For schools that could not bring their full productions, one act plays were put on by many schools, and showcase times were available for students to perform their own acts.

Invited by the state board, a number of college, university, and conservatory representatives had booths in the Auxiliary Gym to inform prospective students on their theater programs. These colleges also looked at students in auditions and interviews, giving students the opportunity to be recruited by schools and win scholarships in categories such as musical theater, nonmusical theater, and technical production.

With all these events, the conference could have been a hectic mess; however, like most North Penn events, it went off without a hitch.

“The conference was great! I’m on the state board, so I helped to plan the event. There were no problems and everything ran smoothly,” said Val Smith, a North Penn Senior.

Maia Baird, a senior from Upper Dublin who has been involved with theater since she was five years old, described the conference as the “most organized one” she has ever attended.

“The best part of the conference was preforming Rabbit Hole in front of everyone” said Baird.

Though the conference was tiring because of all the events, it was a great experience to “meet new people from other schools and see their hard work pay off at the main shows and showcases” according to Emily Morris, a North Penn senior.

A great way to end the fall theater season, the Pennsylvania State Thespian Conference was an educational, fun-filled weekend, giving lovers of the theater a chance to appreciate one another’s hard work.