The International Thespian Society holds annual events for Theatre Programs to compete with one another. VMHS traveled to Grapevine for the 2024-2025 ‘Quack to the Future’ themed competition, bringing home 5 National Qualifiers. These advanced students will be displaying their works on Feb. 7, free of charge in the black box and auditorium starting at 6:30 PM.
These students have been preparing for the past few months, consistently rehearsing to perfect their skills. Performing talents ranging from acting, singing and dancing to live improvisation. Submissions from the technical category including set design, the Troupe Display, a collage of the program’s progress and works designed by the Drama Club Officers and past pieces from the program will be showcased in the black box for viewers before and after the performances.
High-achieving thespians of the program include the national qualifiers: Sophomores Olivia Memelo and Layla Mata and Seniors Raina Samosorn, Ian Ortiz and John Parmely. Moving forward with the following categories: set design, solo musicals and playwright.
Advancing PlayWright written by John Parmely will be performed by the programs own actors and actresses, directed by the productions writer. The importance of this story comes from the uniqueness and representation of his own life, a play featuring 4 characters inspired by his altars: a symptom of Dissociative Identity Disorder.
“All of the characters knew that they were in a script or a show and completely made the 4th wall non-existent,” Parmley said. He mentions the judges found his script unique in its feature of having no fourth wall, and deliberately panning to the audience as part of the viewer experience. PArmlet comments, “As for the judges, they were more interested in the character development and that I took a unique way in how I had written my script.”
Aside from this short production, a recently added International Thespian Society (ITS) event allowed only in Texas will be a Lip Sync Battle. Performed to a ‘Back to the Future’ themed soundtrack, edited by Ian Ortiz, accompanied by a choreographed routine by Senior and Drama Club Vice President, Mallory Zamora.
“It took about four days to choreograph. The process was really fun and slightly stressful. We experimented with a lot of tricks and looked at references to get some dance moves,” said, Mallory Zamora.
The competition was a resounding success, with the theater Patriots receiving high praise and helpful feedback from the judges. The hard work and dedication put in by the students and director Rachel Gilmour will be revealed by the end of this month.
