Twenty-Six Schools Set to Bring One-Acts to the International Thespian Festival
Each year, International Thespian Society chapters across the country carefully evaluate an array of one-act plays, ultimately selecting an outstanding production to showcase at the International Thespian Festival (ITF). This year, ITF proudly welcomes twenty-six extraordinary shows to be performed for thousands of Thespians and theatre educators.
Explore all the productions below.
ITF 2025 Chapter Select One-Act Showcase
21 Chump Street
By Lin Manuel Miranda
Pioneer Valley High School | Troupe 10277 | California
Directed by Jesus Manriquez
21 Chump Street is a musical cautionary tale of Justin, a high school honors student who falls for a cute transfer girl. When Naomi asks him to get marijuana, Justin agrees, hoping it will win her affection – only to find out his crush is actually an undercover cop planted in the school to find drug dealers. This show discusses the ramifications of peer pressure, conformity and drug use in our schools with a message that will stay with teenagers long after they leave the theater.
The 39 Steps, Even More Abridged
Adapted by Patrick Barlow, From the novel by John Buchan, From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
Hahnville High School | Troupe 7313 | Louisiana
Directed by Lucas Harms
In this action comedy, 11 actors work to recreate the Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps. Using only a handful of props, very few set pieces, a mouthful of Foley effects, a wardrobe full of costumes, and a ton of imagination, the ensemble takes the audience on journey recreating the 1930’s spy film, complete with a harrowing train ride and an edge of your seat air attack from a biplane. This 40-minute staging of the hit whodunnit uses the power of ensemble storytelling and speed to deliver a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience.
A Murder of Crows
By Mike Kenny in collaboration with Barnstorm Theatre Company
Prescott High School | Troupe 12462 | Wisconsin
Directed by Thomas Speltz
In a challenging time of famine, A Murder of Crows follows the inspiring journey of two children who rise from fear and abandonment to find their strength and survive, all through the vibrant voices of a lively chorus of crows.
Antigone Now
By Melissa Cooper
Somerset Academy Skye Pointe | Troupe 11211 | Nevada
Directed by Summer Schmutz
Antigone Now is a bold, modern reimagining of the classic Greek tragedy, pulsing with urgency and raw emotion. Set in a war-torn city, the play follows Antigone, a fierce and determined young woman, as she defies a brutal government to honor her fallen brother. Torn between duty and justice, her courageous stand becomes a powerful act of resistance. With poetic language, intense emotion, and a hauntingly minimalist style, *Antigone Now* explores themes of loyalty, power, and the cost of truth. This one-act challenges audiences to ask: when the law is unjust, what does it truly mean to do what’s right?
Antigone: Always Here
By JA Loyd
Bridgeport High School | Troupe 7549 | West Virginia
Directed by Trina Byard
In a battle for the throne of Thebes, Antigone’s two brothers kill each other in combat. The next king, Antigone’s uncle Creon, decides that one brother will be honored with a proper burial, while the other will remain unburied, thus cursed to wander lost in the afterlife. In defiance of the king, Antigone seeks her sister’s help to bury their rejected sibling and to find a way to end discord and oppression in her beloved city. In this new adaptation of the ancient Greek tragedy.
The Bird of The Sea: An Original Play
By J. Harvey Stone
Jamestown High School | Troupe 5827 | Virginia
Directed by James (Harvey) Stone
In 1848 Ann Glanville had to take over her husband’s business of rowing the corn for the county of Cornwall, England. In our play, she considers how she defines herself as wife, mother, and more. The cast and crew seek to tell the story of Ann Glanville through humor, drama, and the use of traditional and new sea shanties.
The Candidate
By Brent Holland
Ramsey High School | Troupe 5838 | New Jersey
Directed by Lucas Abraham & Emily Kenny
Four people wake up in a room with no memory of who they are or how they got there—and no way out. As they’re put through a series of increasingly dangerous trials, they start to realize they’re actually part of a secret process that will change their lives forever.
Charlotte’s Web
By Joseph Robinette, Book by EB White
Cullman High School | Troupe 142 | Alabama
Directed by Wayne Cook
A classic play based on the classic book by EB White. This play contains comedy and drama. A production designed with young audiences in mind, this production is the touring version. There is a special relationship that develops between a pig (Wilbur) and his new found friend Charlotte who is a spider. Their relationship changes both of their lives.
Cut
By Ed Monk
Olathe East High School | Troupe 5078 | Kansas
Directed by Lizzie Hoedl, Luke Peterson, Erin Morley
Cut is an absurd comedy wherein a group of actors rehearse a play within a play within a play. As the plot complications multiply, the actors begin to forget who is playing whom and who is the real director- as opposed to the actor who is playing the director, or vice-versa. Then they can’t remember who they really are, as opposed to the people they are playing in any of the various scripts. Then things start to get really confusing…
Digging Up Dessa
By Laura Schellhardt
South Pointe High School | Troupe 7010 | South Carolina
Directed by Dakota Demato
Dessa, a modern girl with a passion for solving mysteries, uncovers the hidden legacy of 19th-century paleontologist Mary Anning, whose contributions were overlooked due to her gender and lack of formal education. After discovering this injustice, Dessa, with the help of her former rival Nilo, sets out to restore Mary’s rightful place in history. Along the way, she unearths buried treasures, both from the past and her own life, as she fights to secure Mary’s legacy while navigating her own future.
Fast Food
By Tracy Wells
Western Pacific | Troupe 5374 | Western Pacific
Directed by Harold Easton
When you’re hungry for hilarity but short on time and tight on budget, where do you turn? Why Fast Food, of course! From crazy customers to screwy staff, this vignette-style collection of scenes will satisfy your craving for Fast-Food while reminding you of some of the “hilarious” events that you have probably witnessed, or participated in, at your local Fast-Food restaurant. Come join us for some Fast-Food memories.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
By Ntozake Shange
Wells Power APAC | Troupe 4909 | Mississippi
Directed by Aisha Benford
Ntozake Shange’s groundbreaking “choreopoem”: a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women.
Glimpses of Springfield 2024
Student Written
Springfield Township High School | Troupe 1154 | Pennsylvania
Directed by Jelli Vezzosi-Bickel
Glimpses of Springfield 2024 highlights the real experiences of high school students. Through dance and storytelling, this production celebrates the comedy and drama of what it means to be a teenager in all areas of a life – parental expectations, academic pressure, relationships, friendships, and all the milestones in between. Glimpses of Springfield is a play by teens about the teen experience.
Horse Girls
By Jenny Rachel Weiner
Floyd Central High School | Troupe 1794 | Indiana
Directed by Brooklyn Chalfant
Welcome to the world of the Lady Jean Ladies, the most exclusive middle school horse girl club in 2014 South Florida. When rumors start to surface about their beloved horses, their friendships and futures are thrown into chaos. A dark comedy full of twists and turns, Horse Girls explores obsession, loyalty, privilege, and what happens when the fantasy begins to crack.
I, Chorus
By Ian McWethy
Fort Knox High School | Troupe 11673 | Kentucky
Directed by Luella Sikorski
College-drop out Elle is lost and trying to find her place in the world until she meets a Greek Chorus completely devoted to each other and speaking in unison. And doing other things in unison. Like getting a job at Walmart and going on a date. To join them, Elle has to give up everything and everyone she knows, but maybe this is exactly what she has been looking for.
In the Forests of the Night
By Del Martin
Empire High School | Troupe 7057 | Arizona
Directed by Richard Gremel
In The Forests of the Night tells the story of thirteen students who are compelled, by their dreams, to play a game in the woods at night. The students are called to play in order to keep a mysterious monster or creature at bay. But the students realize, once the game begins, that not all of them will make it out of the forest.
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
By Tom Isbell
Alma High School | Troupe 6338 | Arkansas
Directed by Danny Hobson
When Harold Figg is illegally sold to the Union Army, his 12-year-old brother Homer P. Figg undergoes a mighty adventure to bring him back to Maine. From Homer’s run-ins with dangerous swindlers to his assisting in the army’s victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, this is one story that’s the god’s-honest truth…well, mostly. Set during the American Civil War, our story follows the adventures of young Homer who is a well-established teller of tall tales on his quest to find his older brother. Based upon the award winning historical novel by Rodman Philbrick.
Never Swim Alone
By Daniel MacIvor
Durango High School | Troupe 1096 | Colorado
Directed by Benjamin Mattson
A funny, satirical story, Never Swim Alone is about Frank and Bill, two egotistical men locked in a ruthless competition of one-upmanship. At the center of it is a girl, a beach, a bay, and the point.
Radium Girls
By D.W. Gregory
Cheyenne Central High School | Troupe 370 | Wyoming
Directed by Jeremiah Kolkman
Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.
Shuddersome: Tales of Poe
By Lindsay Price
Southmoore High School | Troupe 7572 | Oklahoma
Directed by Brooke Perez
The thumping of a heartbeat. The creak of a door. The howl of a bitter wind. The gong of a clock tower. The clang of alarm bells. The sound of beating wings getting closer and closer… Specters, ghosts and ghouls come alive in this vivid theatrical adaptation of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known works, including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death. Poe’s words rise from the page like corpses from the grave. Be careful. Do you hear that tap, tap, tapping?
Silent Sky
By Lauren Gunderson
George R. Curtis Sr. High School | Troupe 1724 | Washington
Directed by Nena Curley
Set in the early 20th century, Silent Sky tells the story of an American astronomer by the name of Henrietta Leavitt as she makes world-altering calculations and discoveries at the Harvard Observatory. These discoveries would lead other astronomers, such as Edwin Hubble, to find galaxies beyond the Milky Way.
The Sleeping Beau
Book by Sammy Dodd with music and Lyrics by Adelenne Haynes
Brownell Talbot College Preparatory School | Troupe 8093 | Nebraska
Directed by Jennifer Morgan-Beuchat
It’s Sleeping Beauty, but the roles are reversed. Phillip has been cursed and is set to die on his eighteenth birthday, and Aurora is set on saving him. Denial, manipulation, secrets, and Alternate Aurora– a mysterious character from the original story– are hindering, helping and hurting our dear characters as the clock ticks for not only Phillip’s survival, but Alternate Aurora’s time in this story. Friends are made, families are found, and a happy ending is bound to happen. Just not for everyone.
Tracks
By Peter Tarsi
Tigard High School | Troupe 2833 | Oregon
Directed by Asher Bonn
A group of strangers meet in a dirty subway station. They have arrived with limited personal belongings, their watches have stopped, and they all claim to be in different cities. Soon they learn there is no way out of the station, and the unfortunate truth is told to them: they are all dead.
When Night Falls
By Trevin McLaughlin
Birdville High School | Troupe 6134 | Texas
Directed by Trevin McLaughlin
On their way to Australia to perform an adaptation of Joan of Arc written by their insane theatre teacher, a HS theatre troupe’s plane crashes on an uninhabited island. Along with the Lacrosse team recruited to play soldiers, can they survive the elements and each other?
The Wolves
By Sarah DeLappe
Mount Vernon High School | Troupe 1470 | Iowa
Directed by Tom Stephens
Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals.
The Yellow Boat
By David Saar
Piedra Vista High School | Troupe 5954 | New Mexico
Directed by Tyler Gleason
The Yellow Boat is a touching dramatization of Benjamin Saar’s life, a young boy with congenital hemophilia who passed away at eight due to AIDS-related complications. Based on true events, this play celebrates Benjamin’s resilience and artistic brilliance as he transformed his pain into vibrant artwork. The story is inspired by a Scandinavian folksong, where the “yellow boat” represents Benjamin’s boundless spirit sailing to the sun. This heartfelt production affirms the courage of children and the enduring power of imagination, leaving a lasting impact on audiences of all ages.
