The state Thespians conference is virtual this year, but the Manhattan Thespians Troupe 941 opted out of attending.

“I’m really bummed because it’s a great and wonderful experience to meet other talented kids your age, who are really passionate about theater just like you are,” senior Nicole Savage said.

The Kansas Thespian State Conference is a yearly event that takes place in early January. The conference lasts for several days and is the gathering of thespian troupes throughout the state. 

“It’s really sad. I was super looking forward to go my senior year,” senior Max Barbe said, “because senior year is the year and having something that I was looking forward to so much, having that opportunity taken away was so sad.”

The event in previous years has allowed troupes to see live performances from other troupes there along with several workshops. On top of the live performances, there are optional performances people can choose whether or not to see.

“You would meet so many people from across the state that, you know, you wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise,” Barbe said. 

The troupe was offered to attend a different virtual conference but declined. The conference in previous years cost $150 to $250 per student to attend. 

“This year the price still didn’t change except it was online and it was spread out between four different Saturdays,” Savage said.

The troupe had numerous reasons not to attend the now-virtual conference this year. Such reasons include the number of live performances decreased, the troupe would have to rely on technology and worried that if that failed they would have wasted money.

“It’s still a great opportunity but it wasn’t financially sound for our trip to go this year as compared to years past,” Savage said.