Abigail Yearout

Posing for a troupe picture before skating off on the ice, Ladue thespians engage in a team bonding activity in order to increase the feeling of community in the troupe.

This weekend, a group of Ladue thespians will be attending the Wentzville Holt High School One Acts performance on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Though not everyone on the troupe is planning on attending, quite a few students intend to be there.

Ladue’s thespian troupe, troupe 1109, has risen it’s standards this year- all members are required to participate in at least two of Ladue’s three annual shows, two social events, one school non-theatre event, one theatrical event, and one troupe volunteer opportunity throughout year.

“The new troupe requirements have definitely got me on my feet, but I feel more like a part of the Ladue Theatre Troupe now that we all have more bonding experiences,” sophomore Tori Campos, said. Campos is a thespian troupe member notable in her performances in Little Women, the 2017 One Acts, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, and currently The Addams Family.

Previously, there were required social outings arranged by the thespian troupe officers last year, but were not very well executed, and thus failed to be effective. This year’s new board decided to take the requirements set by the previous year’s officers and simply reinforce them.

“This year the officers really wanted to make being a member for troupe 1109 mean something, so we decided to enforce the requirements as a starting point,” Abigail Yearout, the troupe’s vice president, said.

The requirements have been successful in increasing the feeling of community within the troupe, as evident in the members’ appreciation for them.

“I’ve attended about four or five events so far, most of them social events,” said Campos. “I’ve got no immediate plans with the musical coming along, but I do look forward to more opportunities to spend more time with my thespian nerd friends.”

Other events, such as a game night at the beginning of first semester, are also valid towards the requirement of participating in at least one group activity per semes. Last weekend, there was an organized group ice skating social outing at Shaw park, where members of the troupe met up at 1:30 p.m. to have fun bonding as a group while ice skating. Friday’s group outing is going to be one of the theatrical event options.

“Going to the Holt One Acts is one of our other troupe shows for the semester,” Katie Bohnert, troupe president, said. “We are going to watch them perform.”

The Wentzville Holt One Acts performance this weekend is one of the organized group outing opportunities of the year. The troupe has been trying to actively support nearby high school’s shows this year.

Yearout believes that requirements such as these have been very effective at increasing a feeling of community throughout the troupe.

“These changes have allowed our troupe to become more involved and have more of a presence in our school community and the thespians of Missouri. We now have a much more dedicated and tightly knit troupe because of these new requirements.”