The students of the Green Room Theatre Company had the opportunity to go to the University of Illinois this year for Illinois High School Theatre Festival on January 5 through 7.
Theatre Fest is an event that teaches students who are interested in theatre all about theatre. Students from many different schools get together and showcase their talents with a variety of activities and shows for the other students.
“I learned a lot about different acting groups. We saw different acting groups there, and I learned a lot about different schools that were campaigning themselves at different stands,” said Green Room member Lauren Mateling.
The whole experience really connects people. Seeing shows from all the schools and meeting the actors can teach students a lot about theatre.
“At Theatre Fest, I got to see other plays performed by other schools. One of the plays I got to see was In the Heights, and it was really good. The acting was amazing, and I enjoyed it very much,” said Green Room member Nicholas Grzesik.
Green Room’s tradition of going to Theatre Fest has been around for years. The students and teachers can use the trip as a chance to learn and improve.
“We go to Theatre Fest every year. It’s just a really good opportunity for the students and for the teachers to go and be around more people who are interested in theatre see what other people are doing in the state of Illinois in terms of their theatre programs, to learn, to watch,” said Green Room sponsor Clare McConville.
Everyone can learn a lot from the event to enrich their knowledge of theatre and take that knowledge with them for the rest of their lives.
“In the future, I plan to keep doing theatre wherever and whenever I can. If I can do theatre in college, I would really like that. For the rest of my life, I’ll always try to find a way to do theatre, whether it be through school or the community,” Grzesik said.