Bringing together aspiring actors, actresses, and behind the stage workers, the Thespian Festival was held Jan. 24-26.

“The festival brings together people who have a common love of theater,” said senior Bethany Bain.

The festival offered many different categories to compete in as well as workshops to participate in.

“There was solo-acting, musical, tech challenge, costume construction, and video,” said junior Christy Deshong.

Although theater may simply seem like acting and the occasional musical, there is much more to it such as the behind the scenes work that is done before and during the play.

“I was in the lighting and technical competitions,” said junior Stephen Burns.

Just like in every other club or hobby the group of people have diverse interests. For every large group, smaller groups share common interests. While one’s favorite category at the festival may have been the tech challenge, another’s may be costume construction.

“My favorite part was probably watching the comedic plays,” said sophomore Garret Wiegel.

Although Wiegel is not an advanced student, he was still able to gain alot from this festival.

“I participated in workshops, got experience on how to act, and watched plays,” said Weigel.

For some students it is a dream of theirs to move on to a career in theater or theatrical production like Burns. For others like Bain, it is simply a hobby.

“I want to be either an actor or technician. It would definitely be a dream to be in that,” said Burns.

Whether the student participated in the festival for the fun of it or in preparation, it was an enjoyable experience for all.

“It was really high energy and was really fun. You had alot of freedom to do what you wanted,” said Weigel.

For senior Liz Larsen the festival did bring about some disappointment as well as success. Although Liz did not make it to nationals as she once believed she still had a positive attitude towards the disappointment.

“I was really upset because I previously thought I was going to nationals. But I’m still one of the best of state.” said Larsen.

Larsen may not be going to state but she still won multiple awards.

“I got superior ranking, a best of show award, and I got state honor thespian,” said Larsen

Overall the students who went to the festival represented well. Theatre teacher Ms. Samantha Brown was ecstatic to announce the results of the festival.

“Har-Ber has the best of shows in the whole state of Arkansas at the thespian festival in stage management, costume construction, and theatre marketing,” said Ms. Brown.