Drama students return from International Thespian Festival
Published 1:30 am Friday, July 3, 2026
By Lindsey Saarie
Director of Drama, Friday Harbor High School
Seven dedicated drama students from San Juan Island recently returned from a whirlwind week of world-class theater education and performance at the prestigious International Thespian Festival, held at Indiana University Bloomington from June 21-26. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the local community, these island students stood shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of peers from across the country, bringing home top honors and invaluable industry experience.
The festival proved to be a major success for the local troupe, whose members earned high marks in the highly competitive “Thespy” Awards. Performance rubrics are scored out of 20 points, with “Superior” representing the highest possible national recognition and “Excellent” marking the tier just below it:
Alison Power received a coveted Superior rating and a national medal for her Solo Musical Theatre performance. Liam DeYoung and Power teamed up for a Musical Theatre Duet, earning an Excellent rating. Avaline Anderson competed via a virtual monologue submission, also securing an Excellent rating.
In a remarkable achievement for Friday Harbor, Power didn’t just learn at the festival — she taught. Power was selected to lead three separate national workshops on student leadership: “Take Up Space: The Ins and Outs of Leadership,” “Stage Ready Leadership” and “Recognizing and Finding Balance as a Student Leader.” All three sessions were highly successful and packed with attendees from across the nation. For the island students, the festival offered an essential level of training unavailable at home.
“This is a crucial opportunity for our students, who only experience theater as an extracurricular activity,” explained the troupe director. “Many of the schools in attendance offer multi-level drama and theater tech classes. Beyond being in a show, our students don’t get that kind of daily training. Opportunities to learn from professionals and interact with peers who have access to advanced training is incredibly eye-opening.”
The grueling, dawn-to-midnight schedule kept the island troupe immersed in theater. Days began with workshops as early as 8 a.m. and concluded after 10 p.m. following evening mainstage performances. Students and directors took separate tracks to fulfill personal learning goals. The troupe director focused heavily on technical theater, attending masterclasses in production management, sound design, storytelling, set-building safety and even a specialized costuming workshop with famed “seamstress to the stars,” Shirlee Idzakovich.
Between classes, the group took in a massive array of professional-grade youth theater, including full-length productions of “Kimberly Akimbo,” “The SpongeBob Musical,” “Shrek the Musical,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Addams Family,” “The Prom” and “Clue,” alongside experimental one-acts like “The Night Witches,” “A Piece of My Heart,” “The Tempest,” “Pippin” and “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
Ultimately, the director noted that the greatest takeaway wasn’t just the applause, but the profound personal growth.
“The best part is seeing students learn that they CAN be brave in groups of strangers. They learn to navigate massive college campuses and advocate for themselves. We had one student who came with us in the summer of 2025 as a ball of anxiety, needing a buddy just to get around. This year, that same student was our leader, showing the newbies around, making friends from across the country, and mapping out our itinerary before we even left the island.”
This life-changing trip was made entirely possible by the San Juan Island community. The troupe extends its deepest gratitude to every neighbor who bought a chocolate rose at a performance, bought treats at bake sales, donated at the spring showcase or contributed to the year-end online fundraiser.
The troupe is eager to bring their new skills, energy and inspiration back to the island as they begin planning and producing an unforgettable next season.
