For North Atlanta’s talented thespians, the beginning of second semester can mean only one thing: the state’s highly anticipated and highly regarded annual Georgia Thespian Conference. The three-day event can only be described as a core for of theater students throughout the state and a place for talented actors and actresses to perform, learn and network among themselves.

North Atlanta student invitees took their leave on Feb. 8 and embarked on a nearly two-hour journey to their generous host college, Columbus State University in Columbus. Upon their arrival, the conference’s 5,000-plus attendees piled into theaters for the annual opening performance in-house or via livestream. The number consisted of a compilation of students from all throughout the state. “The opening number was beyond amazing,” said Fiona Liu. “The broadway mashup was really fun to watch and everyone was so talented and energetic.”

One of Thescon’s major components are its various theater-based workshops readily available to students. Classes included Self-Production, Improv, Stage Combat, Original Work and Directing. These classes serve as not only as a great place to learn new information, but an opportunity for students to have exposure to out-of-the-box technique they might not have access to at home. The workshops consist of students from a variety of schools at the event providing a great environment for students to interact and have fun.

When students aren’t busy in workshops, you can easily find them in one of the events’ many shortened productions, each performed by various select schools. Some highlight performances include: “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Hello, My Baby” and “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The wide array of plays and musicals at Thescon set it apart from every other theater conference in the nation. The opportunity to perform at the conference is a high honor as well as a future goal of the NAHS theatre department.”The shows were so amazing it felt like I was watching Broadway,” said junior Tazilyn Graves. “It was so fun and it made me confident that we could pull it off here at North Atlanta.”

Like every other year, North Atlanta students had a blast getting to make the annual Thescon trip. A big thanks is due to teacher sponsor Carlos Hooper and parent chaperone Karen Atkinson. Students look forward to next year as they close the curtain on another successful Thescon.