Jai Jenkins (above) and Jay Peebles perform in “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” in October. Paola High School theatre students also performed the play on the main stage at the Kansas Thespian Festival on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Wichita.
Paola High School theater students are pictured together after performing at the Kansas Thespian Festival in Wichita on Saturday, Jan. 7.
Paola High School theater students are pictured together after performing at the Kansas Thespian Festival in Wichita on Saturday, Jan. 7.
Aaron Koechner performs in “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” in October. Paola High School theatre students also performed the play on the main stage at the Kansas Thespian Festival on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Wichita.
Jai Jenkins (above) and Jay Peebles perform in “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” in October. Paola High School theatre students also performed the play on the main stage at the Kansas Thespian Festival on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Wichita.
Gus Cook performs in “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” in October. Paola High School theatre students also performed the play on the main stage at the Kansas Thespian Festival on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Wichita.
WICHITA — Paola High School theatre students have proven once again that their Troupe 66 is one of the best thespian groups in the state.
Director Leslie Coats took 36 students to the Kansas Thespian Festival in Wichita earlier this month. The theatre students performed “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” Saturday, Jan. 7, on the main stage at the Mary Jane Teall Theater inside the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center.
Coats said it was an honor to perform on the main stage, especially since only five programs are selected to do so.
“Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” carries special significance for Coats since she wrote the play more than 30 years ago. She based it on the book by Bernard Edelman, and in it students pay tribute to veterans who served in Vietnam.
Coats said she wrote the script to gain some perspective on the Vietnam War, which was a central event in her own high school and college years, but she has come to realize it also highlights the importance of putting words down on paper in the form of a letter.
The Paola theatre students also participated in the Tech Challenge during the state festival. The challenge focused on six technical theatre events, and Paola won the overall team title.
Paola finished no lower than fourth in any of the technical challenges, which included hang and focus, leg a platform, costume quick change, prop shift, knot tying, and threading a sewing machine.
Kansas Thespians also awarded ten $1,000 scholarships during the event, five performance, three technical, and two theatre educators. Coats said senior Rachel Reimer received one of the performance scholarships.
Senior Managing Editor Brian McCauley can be reached at (913) 294-2311 or brian.mccauley@miconews.com.
Editor and Publisher
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.
Thank you. Your purchase was successful.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Ends: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.