photo by: Contributed

Owen Börk, senior, along with Lily Davis, sophomore, and other Free State theater students perform in “The Addams Family: School Edition.”

Free State High School theater students will be taking their production of “The Addams Family: School Edition” to the Kansas Thespian Festival next month after being selected to perform on the festival’s main stage.

Their show is one of five from high schools around the state to be chosen for the festival, which will take place Thursday, Jan. 8, through Saturday, Jan. 10, in Wichita. Free State students will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9, at the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center, 225 W. Douglas Ave.

The annual multi-day festival includes not just the shows themselves, but also workshops, college auditions, tech challenges, and competitive “Thespy” awards in acting, tech and design. It’s an opportunity to network and for students to possibly qualify for the International Thespian Festival.

To get their show selected, the Free State theater program had to submit recordings of their production to a panel of three independent judges.

photo by: Contributed

Owen Gerrish, senior, along with other Free State theater students perform “The Addams Family: School Edition.”

Owen Börk, a senior who portrays Gomez in the show, said in an email that he really enjoyed seeing the production come together and see everyone work on such a big show.

“Since it’s my senior year I have known all of the cast members for a while now,” Börk said. ” … It’s also just a blast to hang out with all of my friends in the cast. We are putting on a show but at the same time it’s just a bunch of friends hanging out onstage.”

Mimi Wood, a senior who plays Morticia, said via email that she has most enjoyed watching her castmates find their characters and experiment with a new choice one night and then change it the next.

“It always kept me excited and in the mindset that every show will be different and that’s okay,” Wood said.

The show’s story hinges on Morticia’s reaction to Wednesday getting married, and it doesn’t initially go well when she finds out, Wood said. She said the biggest challenge of portraying Morticia was discovering her motivations.

“Diving into Morticia’s trust issues and learning why she values telling the truth over everything else, was a slow process but eventually made me much more involved in each performance,” Wood said.

Börk said that while playing Gomez, he learned a lot about making a character “big.”

“A lot of the roles I have had in the past have been more reserved or at the very least more normal than a member of the Addams family but Gomez is very unique in how he lives and interacts with others compared to the other characters I’ve portrayed onstage,” Börk said.

Lily Davis, a sophomore who plays Wednesday, said in an email that something she’s learned about herself while portraying the role has been that confidence is key, specifically when it comes to taking on roles that are intimidating.

“I’m specifically referencing my experience in staying monotoned and keeping a straight face the entire show,” Davis said. “It was an intimidating task to take on but I learned that my lack of confidence in myself to actually do it was the only thing stopping me.”

photo by: Contributed

Owen Börk, senior, performs in “The Addams Family: School Edition.”

Wood said what she was most looking forward to about the performance at the Kansas Thespian Festival was experiencing the show in a new setting and with a like-minded audience.

“Every person in that room has watched theatre, performed recently in a show, or has worked on crew to bring a show together,” Wood said. “They will understand what’s impressive and what to laugh at, so it’ll be exciting to see what their reactions will be.”

Davis said she’s most excited about doing the show in this unique festival setting with a cast, crew and production team that she’s grown to love.

“Everyone involved deserves this opportunity and it’s incredible that we get to work together once again to now perform in front of an audience unlike any other,” Davis said.

Before the students travel to Wichita, you can catch a local performance of “The Addams Family: School Edition” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, at Free State High School Auditorium, 4700 Overland Drive.

The Lawrence Schools Foundation has been seeking community sponsorships to help cover the approximately $9,000 in travel, equipment and production costs for the students’ trip to Wichita.

“This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity allows our students–cast, crew, and pit orchestra–to perform on a professional stage in front of thousands of educators, peers, and industry professionals,” a social media post from the foundation said.

The sponsorships are needed by Thursday, Jan. 1, the post said, and the contributions will be handled by the foundation. For more information and to donate, visit LawrenceSchoolsFoundation.org or contact Dena Johnston at djohnsto@usd497.org.