Members of Oakville High School Drama Troupe got the opportunity to go to the Missouri State Thespian Conference at the Marriott Grand Hotel on Jan. 12-14.

The ten students who attended got to experience a wide variety of 45 minute to one hour long workshops that included anything from stage combat to Hairspray choreography to special effects makeup. The workshops were taught by theatre professionals.

“I went to ‘Acting the Song’ taught by Ben Nordstrom with Allison Harvey (11), Nathan Gallop (10), and Caden Turner (10),” Kerri McFarland (11) said. “It was amazing. We sang for Ben, and he just helped us with our performance.”

In addition to workshops, the students got to see productions of “Never More” by Edgar Allen Poe and the All-State show. The conference let the students see where a future in theatre could take them and how much theatre truly impacts their lives.

“…theatre is a way for me to escape the stress and business of life,” McFarland said. “When I’m on stage, I get to become someone else that has different problems and different aspirations.”

She and Isabelle Zurcher (11) hope to one day open their own musical theatre studio. Both girls are involved in theatre both inside and outside of OHS. Zurcher, however, was only able to attend conference for the first of the three days.

“I got sick 12 hours into conference and had to go home Friday morning,” Zurcher said, “but the first few hours made me the happiest person alive.”