The Drama Club at Sheridan High School continues to grow as they attended the State Thespian Festival at Casper College for the first time in eight years. Competitors from Sheridan High School will go to the state festival and showcase their acting skills in juried categories. These categories include monologues, duologues, group scenes and musical acts. There is also a technical aspect to the competition where students design costumes, engage in set design, design make-up looks, and write and submit their own original works.
The program is led by Grace Cannon-Wallace, who holds the title of fall Drama Director. She is also the Director of the Wyo Plays, an organization focused on theater education at the Wyo Theater. Though the Drama Club usually performs a fall play, this year they took the leap to go to the festival, “it felt like a really cool opportunity to prepare for the state festival,” said Cannon-Wallace. The group of young actors, designers, and writers have been enthusiastic about the opportunity. They have had to work autonomously and outside of school for much of the program’s preparation and revisions. Cannon-Wallace has been pleased to see people taking the program into their own, but she also understands the drawbacks of not doing a full-blown theatre production. That being said, it has been rewarding to watch students show up for themselves and find their own creativity. After preparing, students were given one-on-one coaching to amp up their chosen categories. This constant process yielded some incredible results, giving students their own individualized pieces to bring to the competition. Students were able to dig deeper and find greater meaning in the character they were performing as. Those not performing honed in on their skills stretching their imagination.
Cannon-Wallace stresses the importance of community in theatre. Participants in the program have been given a unique opportunity and traveled to Casper to meet other theatre enthusiasts from schools around the state. Competitors also have the chance to explore options of further theatre education at the festival. Cannon-Wallace explains how Sheridan offers no theatre classes and how that fact may have contributed to the school not attending the festival in years prior. “It is a challenge for us to travel, but it is fun to try,” Cannon’ Wallace said. “There is so much enthusiasm for theatre in Sheridan, yet we don’t have the academic opportunity in high school. I think people are missing out.” There are many misconceptions around theatre careers. Many believe that it is not practical to be a theatre professional. Cannon-Wallace explains that if there were proper theatre education then there would be a greater likelihood of professional success.
Cannon-Wallace encourages people to try theatre, saying that there is something keenly spiritual about the art form. Watching actors live surrounded by an audience is special; the whole process of buying a ticket, sitting down and suspending disbelief for a moment of the day is a very unique experience. “The more we find ourselves living our lives in our private spaces where everything we need we can find at home, the more isolated and despondent we become.” said Cannon-Wallace. “We need each other, and I think theatre is one way in which people come together.” The opportunity to connect with complete strangers and become united as performers, directors, designers, writers and audience members could not be more special. “Theater is the opportunity to find other ways to be joyful in a group of people; it’s a way to learn more about yourself and your place in the world,” said Cannon-Wallace. The future of the Sheridan Drama Club is looking bright as they head to the State thespian festival. “The state festival is a great opportunity to learn and meet industry professionals as well as test one’s abilities,” explained senior Thane Orchard.