Forty drama club members will join four thousand thespians to enjoy a gathering of like-minded people at the Illinois High School Theater Festival.

Drama club members will head out to Illinois State University today to participate in the three day convention. The drama club has been going to the annual convention every year since 2001.

“It’s the high school Theater Fest, so all the high schools in Illinois are invited to come to ISU this year in Normal, Illinois,” Kelly Schwantes, junior actor, said.  “A whole bunch of workshops are taught by outside theater companies, technicians, and Broadway actors. It’s really a mixed bag.”

Tom Skobel, drama teacher, explained the diversity offered and its benefits.

“Workshops provide a variety of things for Theater Festival,” Skobel said. “There are not just acting, but all sorts of tech. Makeup workshops, hair workshops, yoga for theatre is offered. There’s a bunch of variety of workshops students can take that they might not be able to get at their school.”

Theater Festival also showcases about 24 school shows over the course of the conference, Skobel said.  

“If there’s a school that performs, they can perform it once, they can perform it twice,” Skobel said. “There’s about eight different performance venues, so there’s a lot of theater happening around the campus.”

Lake Zurich will not be presenting a showcase, but Skobel said that is one of his goals for the future.

There are two actors from LZ in the All State production of Rent, Mara Nasui and Zach Keller, both seniors, as well as Francesca Castro, junior, in the pit orchestra, and Jason Washburn, junior, as a technician.