The second I stepped off of the airplane, I received an extremely warm welcome from two Mississippi Thespians! Kathleen and Anna came to pick me up, and when I walked out, they were holding an ADORABLE handmade sign. Though we had never met, we greeted each other with hugs and headed towards the car. Immediately we were laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying ourselves.
Friday morning, I got to meet the Mississippi Thespian Officers. They were all absolutely wonderful. We got to sit down together and plan their opening ceremony skit. We had an amazing cardboard cutout of a mask. We attached ribbons, and during the skit, as we cut the ribbons, everyone said what “Thespians is…” We then introduced the theme, No Strings Attached. After that they started it off with a wonderful one act and then everyone headed to Individual Events. I was lucky enough to time the monologue room. I got to watch some amazing monologues, and I was thrilled to see so many student performances.
On Friday, we met in our Circle of Friends for the first time. I LOVE Circle of Friends. Each delegate received one of six puppets. These puppets split them into their different groups. Each group received a bag of props to work with. We met many times over the weekend to come up with a 3 minute skit using each item in our bag. I LOVED this, because not only did we get to put on some awesome skits, but we all got to know each other really well. All of the techies also stepped out of their comfort zone, and acted!
Saturday was filled with some incredible one acts and workshops All of the delegates gave great feedback from the workshops and were very eager to share what they learned. Saturday went by too quickly, and around 6 o’clock it was time to start awards. We kicked off awards with minute to give it. Minute to Give is a fundraiser that gives everyone 60 seconds to donate as much as they can! Mississippi successfully raised hundreds of dollars in 60 seconds. It was truly amazing. After that, we got to watch all of the Circle of Friends skits. Then, we announced superiors, tech challenge awards, the new MTO, and scholarships.
When the first gentleman who received a scholarship was announced, he joined us onstage and began crying. It was one of those moments that truly reminds you that what you are doing, makes a difference. This money, means that this guy gets to go college, and for that, he was truly grateful. We got to watch a wonderful showcase after everything was announced, and then it was time to say goodbye to an amazing festival.
Thank you Mississippi for being so welcoming, and congratulations on a great festival!