Illinois Theatre Fest | Present a Workshop

Present a Workshop

Each year more than 150 workshops geared toward high school students and their teachers are presented at the Illinois High School Theatre Festival. We call upon your expertise to provide genuine service and significant educational opportunities for all Festival attendees. Your professional theatre experience is worth sharing.

How might you pass your talents on to students attending the Festival? Are you able to present a hands-on workshop that allows attendees an opportunity to interact with and experience concepts that can be brought back to their schools? What would you like to share with the next generation of theatre artists? Please consider the following as you put together your workshop:

Workshops should invite participation; we want students to be doing as much as possible.
Demonstrations and participatory exercises are essential to the workshop program. Please think “active.” Hands-on activities and handouts are always a plus.
Workshops should be practical and realistic; avoid lengthy theoretical lectures.
Workshops should be relevant to the needs of the participants. Leaders should be aware of the wide variance in maturity, experience levels, and ages of potential participants.
For further guidance, please see the Workshop Possibilities (PDF).

In order to ensure ample opportunities for our students, we strongly encourage each school to provide at least one workshop.

WORKSHOP GUIDELINES

We appreciate the crucial service that exhibitors and workshop leaders provide for the Festival and students. We thank you for adhering to the following guidelines:

Any display, workshop, or promotion must clearly meet the needs of the students and/or sponsors attending the Festival.
Educational recruiters must be connected to accredited institutions.
Workshops cannot be used to actively sell products or services.
Workshops and exhibitor participation must be of quality, and valuable to the education and support of our students and sponsors.

The IHSTF Planning Committee reserves the right to reject the participation of any workshop leader who they feel does not meet the above guidelines.

YOU MAY CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FORMATS:

1 hour and 10 minutes -OR- 2 hours and 30 minutes

All workshops take place on Friday (January 12) and/or Saturday (January 13).

NOTE: A/V, photocopies of handouts, and other technical equipment are not provided, nor are they included in the IHSTF budget. Please make arrangements to bring your own materials/equipment should you require it. Some rooms do have projectors in them that can be attached to your laptops—those arrangements must be made in advance.

The workshop application deadline is October 20, 2023.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Associate Directors for Workshops: