From Jan. 2 – 4, LSW’s theatre department took to the Nebraska State Thespian Festival in Omaha and came back with multiple awards. The competition improv team, Silverware, consisted of seniors Melanie Wiggins, Matthew Killham, Katie Timmer, Jack McCormick, Zach Stevens and Carson Vance and they were awarded 2025 Nebraska Improv State Champions. The 2025 Technical Theatre State Champions was awarded to senior Avery Miller, juniors Violet Skov, Alex McMullen, Owen Allen and sophomores Rowan Ashmore and Alexa Ladd.

“It (theatre) has taught me the values of working with people. Tech Challenge is a group of six people that do different events like prop shift, your just switching table settings, sound, which was a chord relay and a few others,” Miller said. “We weren’t really focusing on winning. We were all very surprised when we actually won.”

This festival was used not only for theatrical and technical performances but also an outlet for scholars to interact, network and learn from fellow thespians. There were several workshops provided for thespians to attend that involve learning about different aspects in theatre.

“I attended a few improv workshops. We would do a warm up with everyone, a fun game about memorizing and then we would try out a new game,” Vance said. “I think the friendships are my favorite part of the improv team.”

Many individuals who attended the festival brought their Thespy submissions, acting and technical performances showcasing an individual’s skills. Most LSW thespians received a superior ranking on their performance. Senior Tyler Stover and junior Avery Runestad were selected to perform their submissions during the mainstage showcase. Stover also received a $500 thespian scholarship to continue to pursue theatre arts. Aside from the competition aspect, junior Joshua Carl was initiated as a 2025-2026 State Thespian Officer. 

“It’s definitely an honor to be elected a State Thespian Officer. A lot of responsibility is taking on the organization of the 2026 State Festival,” Carl said. “I think my biggest takeaway from State Festival was getting to connect with other theatre people with similar interests, especially from other schools that I don’t get to see often.”