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The ITS logo.

The International Thespian Society is an honorary organization for high-school and middle-school theatre students located at more than 3,600 affiliated secondary schools across America, Canada, and abroad. The mission of ITS is to honor student excellence in the theatre arts. It is a division of the Educational Theatre Association.

The ITS inducts high school students active in theater each fall, with members earning points towards a higher status. One Thespian Point is usually equivalent to five to ten hours of work in the theater department; a new status is reached with every ten points.

The International Thespian Officers are student leaders, elected annually at the Leadership Conference - a training event for leaders at the troupe, state, and international level held at the International Thespian Festival. There are six ITO offices: a Chair/International Liaison, an officer from each of the four Thespian regions of the USA, and a Publications Editor-Webmaster-Secretary.

Festivals are held annually, both at the state and national level. The season culminates with the International Thespian Festival, held at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln each June.

At "Festival", the Regional Play Marathon showcases troupes qualifying from their respective State Thespian Festivals. Main Stage is where adjucators watch shows from the various middle and high school groups in front of an audience of about 3,000, in the Lied Center for Performing Arts. There are auditions for national cast productions, usually to premiere the school edition of a large Broadway show (Ragtime and Hairspray), as well as individual events, such as mime, monologue, musical duets, costume design and set design.

Workshops and play marathons fill the daily schedules of Thespians, while dances and themed chaperone dinners occupy the evenings.

• EdTA/ITS Home Page
• Website of the International Thespian Officers

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