Main Stage Thespians: Eurydice

The International Thespian Festival (ITF) Main Stage isn’t just a performance, it’s a celebration of student creativity, resilience, and the magic of live theatre. This year, eight troupes will share their voices with the ITF community, including Thespian Troupe 5449 from Meadowdale High School. Their production of Eurydice promises to inspire, challenge, and connect audiences through the power of storytelling.

Ahead of their trip to ITF, Dramatics chatted with cast members Lucy Knudson (Eurydice), Seda San Nicolas (Orpheus), and Tyler Penington (the Father), to learn more about their show and experiences as they gear up for the big stage.

Compared to performing at your school, what’s different about preparing for one of the largest stages in school theatre?

Lucy Knudson, Eurydice: [It’s] both exhilarating and terrifying. The audience at our school seats less than 200 people, so the fact we’re going to be on a stage with an audience of over 3,000 is hard to wrap my head around.

Seda San Nicolas, Orpheus: Performing at our school has always been fun, but mostly safe, knowing my audience are community members, family, friends, or maybe a co-worker here and there. It didn’t make me that nervous since they know my capabilities. Now I’ll have to perform in front of hundreds of strangers, leaving my first impression up to my performance. Although it sounds like I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself, it’s an amazing opportunity to take my acting to a more professional level.

Tyler Pennington, the Father: With full honesty I believe I have to lock in and realize the worth of this experience and our production. In our little black box theatre, we had a small stage, yet massive amounts of dedication and professionalism and I believe we will uphold that skill and enhance it with this upgrade.

What aspect of your show are you most proud of, and why?

Lucy Knudson, Eurydice: A lot of creative liberties were taken when putting this show together, which is always a little scary, but everything came together so well. Seeing all the pieces fall into place was so satisfying and I’m very excited to show it to the world.

Seda San Nicolas, Orpheus: The connections I’ve built with the cast. Working in such a vulnerable space with a small group helped both with my acting and my personal well-being. Being together with people I can trust and rely on is one of the many things I’m thankful for having while working on this show.

Tyler Pennington, the Father: The people; every single person in this production put a lot of heart and soul into it and it really shows. We couldn’t be here without our one-of-a-kind teacher/director and all our crews.

Any memorable rehearsal moments or backstage traditions that stood out to you during the process of mounting the show?

Lucy Knudson, Eurydice: During this show more than any other show I’ve done, we spent a lot of time throughout the rehearsal process doing movement exercises. This really contributed to the seamlessness of our ensemble and our ability to work together as a team.

Seda San Nicolas, Orpheus: Before every show, the cast and crew come together to shake out some pre-show jitters. We do some chants, some calming exercises, tongue twisters and more. With how dark this play can get, having some time to be silly beforehand helped balance my mindset.

Tyler Pennington, the Father: There is this one scene where the Father (me) is telling a story on stage to Eurydice. Now only Lucy Knudson and I really know what I am saying in that scene because there is no audio and I mouth everything, yet she knows the story as well as I do. It’s about a Banshee that I found in a cave. It’s a really sweet moment for the Father and Eurydice, but also for me and Lucy.

Preparing a show is always a learning process. What’s been your biggest lesson throughout the process of prepping your show, applying for adjudication, and now being told you’re heading to ITF?

Lucy Knudson, Eurydice: When we got the news that we’d be performing at ITF, there was a whirlwind of new information. Navigating fundraising efforts along with transferring all the technical aspects is nothing less than a challenge, but definitely a worthwhile one!

Seda San Nicolas, Orpheus: To never limit myself. I assumed we wouldn’t even be in the running due to the fact that we are not a performing arts school, and our outreach has never reached past a column in our town’s newspaper. I now realize that popularity and money is not all you need to be successful.

Tyler Pennington, the Father: It comes down to your acting method, whilst in the duration of the production I found myself drawn to the Meisner Technique of actually reacting to the other and imagining the world around you, which should not relate to method acting, that’s a whole different ball game.

What is your favorite moment in the show?

Lucy Knudson, Eurydice: There are lots of things I love about this show, but my absolute favorite is probably watching the lights line up perfectly with the sound or the spoken lines to enhance whatever’s happening on stage. It makes the story so much livelier and real and yet also fantastical and larger than life.

Seda San Nicolas, Orpheus: Every moment with Eurydice and her father are my favorite. The rekindling of their relationship is always perfectly executed by their actors, and to be able to portray that much emotion on stage is truly admirable.

Tyler Pennington, the Father: Near the end of the play the Father helps Eurydice to get out of the underworld and although she’s scared to go, he tells her it’s where she belongs and will be at peace. So she leaves. Then, when he is alone, he is depressed and confused on what to do next and that all falls into the role of a Father, to care for his daughter. Until someone takes care of her for him, then he wanders back to his childhood home and there he is at peace.

As a Thespian, what about this production makes you proud to share it with the ITF community? What do you hope the national audience remembers after the curtain falls in June?

Lucy Knudson, Eurydice: This show is our director’s emotional brainchild, and she as well as every other member of the cast and crew poured so much thought and effort into each and every bit of this show. All I hope is that the audience will be able to tell how much all of us care about the story we’re telling.

Seda San Nicolas, Orpheus: Eurydice is different from your average play, handling many kinds of obstacles you don’t typically see. There’s so much room for interpretation, it’s unique to every person who watches it. I hope the audience can feel the emotions as much as our characters do and I’m excited to share this experience with them.

Tyler Pennington, the Father: To love one another. Whether that be your parents, your brothers and sisters, your husband or wife, even a stranger you’ve never met. To love is to be alive even when they’re gone. As Sarah Ruhl says, “You should love your family till the grapes grow dust on their purple faces.”