On December 12 – 14, 2025, members of Pinckney High School’s Act2 Theatre Company went to the Thespian festival in Lansing.
The festival is a 2-day event for high school theatre students. There are nearly 100 workshops and 21 competitive event categories. Most of all though, it is just a great way for people interested in theatre to come together.
Inducted thespians have the opportunity to compete at Thespys, which are competitions to show off their theater skills! When you do a thespy, you perform for judges and receive feedback and scoring. The highest awards are Excellent and Superior.
Pinckney High School’s Act2 Theatre Company, also known as Troupe #4619 of the International Thespian Society did very well in the Thespys. Here are the awards they’ve earned at Festival this year!
Anabelle Tayon – Superior – Solo Musical Theatre (“I’m Breaking Down” from Falsettos)
Griffin Peltier – Superior – Solo Acting (Selections from The Moors and The Learned Ladies)
Phoenix Mayes – Excellent – Solo Musical Theatre (“Would I Leave You” from Follies)
Sophia Fulton – Excellent – Solo Acting (Selections from The Seagull and other short plays)
Anabelle Tayon, Griffin Peltier, Phoenix Mayes, Sophia Fulton, Brooklyn Brown – Superior – Ensemble Acting (Act 1, Scene 2 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
“Festival was such an incredible experience! I’m so grateful I got to compete in a thespy, and I’m so proud of myself and my group for getting a Superior!!! It was such a fun experience and I’m so excited for Festival next year,” said Anabel Tayon.
Sophia Fulton agreed. “This was my first time at Festival, and I honestly didn’t really know what to expect. My actual performance was so stressful, I was worried about forgetting, about time. But in the end, each and everyone who joined us, new or old, each had so much support for one another. I loved the energy and the people; it was like the extended family I never knew I had.”
Relationships seemed to be a theme with the performers. “My favorite part of Festival was all of the friends from other troupes that I made. Being in a group of theatre kids there was a mutual understanding that one of us could break into song and we would all find ourselves singing along and hyping each other up. We still have a group chat and keep in contact everyday!!”
Griffin Peltier, the president of Act2 shared: “My favourite part of Festival was getting to watch our Act2 students perform. I saw such talent and dedication, and it was an honour to work alongside my friends for our scene!”
