On March 23, around 15 students from PCM’s drama department set off to Simpson College to participate in the annual High School Theatre Festival. About 120 students from different schools across Iowa participated in the festival, with their teachers chaperoning. This is the second year PCM has participated in this event.
“I love it because it gives students the opportunity to be a part of some workshops that offer pieces of theater that we don’t specifically have time to work on or we don’t have the exact expertise for,” Drama Teacher Ms. Samantha Pohl said. “Also, you get to see an actual show that day. It’s cool to see other people’s versions of things, and to be taken into that atmosphere and see a show is really cool.”
Students were able to choose two workshops from a long list prior to the festival. from Simpson’s theatre department. The workshops featured different aspects of theatre, including musical theatre, acting movements and stage combat.
“It was an awesome experience and it definitely helped me improve in many ways,” sophomore Sierra Littrell said. “I was happy to be a part of it and am looking forward to next year.”
After the morning workshops, the students were treated to a spaghetti lunch. Finally, they sat down in the theater to watch some Simpson students put on the show “Pericles.”
“It’s like full circle,” Pohl said. “I went to [the festival] in high school as a student, then I planned it and went to Simpson, and now my students are going to it.”