A chilly weekend for Mississippi was a balmy vacation for me, “the Iowa girl”.
This two-day "Clue"-themed festival, held in Tupelo, Mississippi (yes, the birthplace of Elvis!) had around 150-200 participants, 8 State Thespian Officers, 12 guest artists, and countless amounts of fun!
On Friday, check-in began around noon and then we were off! The four One Acts, Freak, The Brothers Grimm, Seussical Jr., and The Turnover were performed for a panel of judges and the attendees of the festival. Seussical Jr. was actually performed by Pearl Junior High School and was overflowing with colors and energy!
After a nice dinner at D’Casa with the adult board and my ever-lovely EdTA rep Diane Carr, we were ready for Individual Events. I was running everywhere from timing technical events to enjoying some heartfelt monologues. Finally, it was time for a Mississippi Festival tradition—Circle of Friends.
Circle of Friends splits the festival up into equal groups with equal representation from each school— a great way to meet new people at festival—with three clues to create and perform a short skit! I was lucky to be placed with Tupelo Middle School, all 7th and 8th graders, and given the clues Mrs. Peacock, Dining Room, and wrench. Together we created a goofy two-minute skit that included all 17 students in “A Dinner Party Gone Wrong”.
Saturday was a long but rewarding day! The State Thespian Officers presented a creative “Clue”-inspired opening ceremony, presented medals to those who received “Accomplished” ratings on their IEs, and offered to anyone in the festival who wished to sign a card for Karen Streit, an ex-Mississippi Chapter Director battling cancer.
The rest of the day was spent guarding the door the Scholarship Auditions, being blown away at Tech Challenge, and teaching two workshops: “Six Ways to Hit Your Mark” and “NAPS”. Check out my blog about my 2014-2015 NAPS Journey to hear more!
The closing ceremony presented awards to students and thanked everyone for attending. Overall, a very enjoyable and unique festival!
(Thanks to a snowpocalypse, I had some trouble getting home. This picture shows my little fort I made in the Chicago airport while I camped out until finally arriving home on Monday afternoon!)
