International Thespian Society 1980-1999

To celebrate 90 years of the International Thespian Society (and this magazine, originally called The High School Thespian), we at Dramatics offer this five-part series tracking highlights of our institutional memory, two decades at a time. Follow and add to the ongoing celebration at #ITS90th and #ThespianForever.

THE 1980s AND ’90s transformed world politics (end of the Cold War, fall of the Berlin Wall), culture (videogames, MTV), and technology (birth of the World Wide Web, recognition of global warming). The Educational Theatre Association also experienced fundamental transformations in its structure, size, and reach.

The first change came in 1982 when the International Theatre Arts Conference, our biennial summer event for students, was renamed the Thespian Festival and began its annual schedule. In 1986, we then started offering summer retreats for high school theatre directors, which nurtured the founding of the Theatre Education Association, an ITS affiliate network for theatre educators.

TEA worked to increase support for theatre arts in American schools, as ITS continued to recognize Thespian achievements and cultivate their skills and knowledge through first-rate learning opportunities and educational resources.

By 1989, the International Thespian Society board established the Educational Theatre Association to oversee operations of both ITS and TEA, and teachers began receiving a quarterly Teaching Theatre journal that fall. By 1995, though, TEA’s time had ended, and EdTA became the name of the entire organization, operating both the student society and the eponymous professional association.

This growth and innovation occurred despite a devastating fire set by an arsonist in August 1984 that gutted the society’s offices. Business operations, including major events and publications, continued without interruption during the rebuild. EdTA staff spent the winter of 1984-85 working in a small, cold corner of the gutted building while repairs were made. Our former script library experienced the most grievous and total loss, with 13,142 scripts damaged beyond recovery.

1989: EdTA's Teaching Theatre begins publication. — **1989**: EdTA’s *Teaching Theatre* begins publication.

1989: EdTA extends its reach to middle schools with Junior Thespians. — **1989**: EdTA extends its reach to middle schools with Junior Thespians. Photo from the 2015 Junior Thespian Festival by Susan Doremus.

1994: EdTA launches Thespian Playworks. — **1994**: EdTA launches Thespian Playworks.

1995: ITF begins a 25-year run at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. — **1995**: ITF begins a 25-year run at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. 2019 photo by Susan Doremus.

1999: Michael Peitz succeeds Ron Longstreth as executive director of EdTA. — **1999**: Michael Peitz succeeds Ron Longstreth as executive director of EdTA.

In 1990, the association expanded its reach with the launch of Junior Thespians for middle school theatre students, and in summer 1994, we launched the Thespian Playworks student writing program at the International Thespian Festival, established in tribute to veteran Thespian executive Doug Finney. A year later, ITF moved from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., to begin a 25-year run at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

The last transformation of this period began in 1998. The association outgrew its old quarters and moved to the Graveson House, a restored Italianate villa in Cincinnati’s Mount Auburn neighborhood, where it remained for the next 20 years. In 1999, Ron Longstreth retired as executive director after 31 years of service and was succeeded by Michael Peitz, an Iowa theatre teacher and Thespian alum of Troupe 615 who was an Iowa chapter director, EdTA board president, and assistant executive director.

This story appeared in the October 2019 print version of Dramatics. Learn about the print magazine and other Thespian benefits on the International Thespian Society website.