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  • 1.  Thespian Troupe Director Help

    Posted 04-19-2023 10:28

    Hello all,

    I am reaching out to those of you who are Troupe Directors or who have a lot of experience with a Thespian Troupe.  I started a Thespian Troupe a few years ago with just a handful of kids.  Due to our participation at the State Conference more and more kids have been interested in joining, and at this point we've grown to 33 students.  However, I still feel like the program is floundering a bit and the issue I keep running into is time and energy.  In addition to Thespians, we produce four full scale shows per year.  This year we produced two plays and two musicals.  We also offer multiple Theatre classes and a Theatre Arts Enrichment.  I direct two of the shows and teach all of the classes, which adds up to 5 separate preps.  Most of the kids in Thespians are also in all of the productions, participate in Choir, and take the Theatre classes.  It seems like every year we start off strong but as we get into the thick of the semester and the shows, things start to die down.  Then we get a burst of energy in preparation for the Conference and experience a lot of enthusiasm.  However, after the Conference the whole thing just seems to run out of gas.  Kids are completely consumed in the remaining productions, Choir demands, and life, leaving little time or desire to do anything as a Troupe.  My questions are:
    1) For those of you who are Troupe Directors, how often do you meet with your Troupes?  How much planning do you do for each of the meetings?  How much do you allow the meetings to be student led by the student President and leadership?

    2) What does your Thespian student leadership look like practically?  We have all of the roles, they were elected, but what do they actually do?  

    3) Besides getting kids enrolled and ready to participate at the State Conference, what else do you do?  Have you run into similar time/energy constraints?  If so, have you made any adjustments that seem to have helped the situation?  

    Thank you for any insights you are willing to share!



    ------------------------------
    Jim Butz
    Drama Teacher
    Westminster Christian Academy
    MO
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  • 2.  RE: Thespian Troupe Director Help

    Posted 04-21-2023 10:31
    Hello Jim, first, congratulations, it sounds like you have a rich and active Theatre Program at your high school, music too.
    I retired this past year after 30 years as a Troupe Director. In that time, as our program and activities at the high school grew, the nature of the Thespian Troupe did change. We have a group of almost 40 initiated members and initiate about 20 more each year.
    Here are some things we came to focus on as students were so involved in so many other activities.
    First- let your student board take on the work and leadership. Start by asking them what they would like their troupe to accomplish, help them to create a sort of mission statement for their Thespian Troupe. 
    Here are some things my students put on this type of list:
    Mentoring of young students - we established mentor groups and split into groups for community building activities.
    Building Community between ALL student theatre participants including and especially performers and techies.
    Community outreach and advocacy
    Fundraising for community organizations
    Inclusivity - my board built a question form and created a statement
    Board. Meetings took place at least every other week and an 'action list' was always created. Our board was a working board that worked at not just being ready and organized for Conference, but for accomplishing the other items and Thespian only activities on the list.
    Next - create some Thespian Troupe run activities other than Conference participation.
    Here are some of the regular Thespian Troupe activities we  engaged in:
    "Thespalooza" an at least once, maybe twice a year event for students to share their personal performances with each other.
    Cabaret - an end of the year fundraiser, cast, directed and produced by Senior Thespians
    First Night - our town's New Years Eve celebration - we both provide live mannequins for windows and create a children's theatre performance.
    Finally, we call all drama participants to a General Thespian meeting once a week for a short time 20 to 30 min. max to up-date all students on the calendar, up-coming theatre and music events, community opportunities, all things troupe related and a short social activity when we divide into mentor groups and then come back to share.
    One of the rather unique things my students do is participate in play and musical selection, by surveying students for the types of things they would like to see in productions and why. They read scripts and talk about what might work and what might not and why. They suggest shows to the directors and advisors. It provides students with a new perspective and is very educational.

    Jill K. Campbell
    jkc5161@gmail.com
    Theatre Educator
    PA Thespian Chapter Board
    Secretary/Treasurer ESU Central PA Branch




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Thespian Troupe Director Help

    Posted 04-25-2023 21:13

    Jim,
    I have a similar experience and it can definitely get overwhelming, especially if you are a one person department!  I have found that the years where our troupe has been a bit less stressed and more efficient are when we have had strong student leadership.  The officers definitely set the tone, but then also encouraging all students to be a part of a committee- helps to share the work load.  
    To answer your questions more specifically, we have full troupe meetings once a month during advisory (during the school day) which makes it easier for more students to attend.  There is an "agenda" google doc that is shared between me and the officers- we all add meeting topics and notes in advance, but the meetings themselves are primarily run by the officers.
    We currently have a 5 officer board.  Each officer takes the lead on one or two specific areas that they want to focus on that year (this is all planned out shortly after they are elected).  Typically those areas include fundraising, event planning, troupe communication, advocacy, etc.
    As you said, I'm generally pretty busy with preps for classes and shows- so these other things are up to the officers to keep running.  I tell them at the start of each year that as a troupe/drama club, we can do pretty much whatever they want to- but they have to get the ball rolling.  That way, I don't add more to my plate without them already being on board.  They bring their ideas to me and I will help with logistics as needed for things like paperwork for purchases, permission slips, etc to make these things happen.  
    It's not a perfect system....sometimes the students get overwhelmed and we don't do as much "extra" stuff as usual...and over the years I've realized that is ok.
    I'm happy to chat with you more if you'd like to bounce ideas :)



    ------------------------------
    Sarah Buchheit
    Theatre Director
    Union High School
    MO
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    Original Message


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