High School Editions of Kimberly Akimbo, Suffs, Dear Evan Hansen, More Will Play Thespian Festival Main Stage | Playbill
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High School Editions of Kimberly Akimbo, Suffs, Dear Evan Hansen, More Will Play Thespian Festival Main Stage

Find out which schools have been invited to perform on one of high school theatre's biggest stages.

February 11, 2026 By Logan Culwell-Block

Kimberly Akimbo High School Version at Fossil Ridge High School in Ft. Collins, Colorado

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) has announced the 12 high schools whose theatre troupes will perform on the main stage at this year's International Thespian Festival (ITF). The annual teen theatre event will be held June 21-26 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Forty (a new record) high-caliber high school productions were screened this year for the newly expanded 12 available slots, up from eight at last year's festival. The resulting lineup includes nine musicals and three plays, four schools showcasing their troupe for the first time, and six titles that have never been seen on the ITF main stage.

The featured productions will include Alexandria Senior High School's The SpongeBob Musical (Alexandria, Louisiana), All County Thespian Troupe of Charles County Maryland's The Addams Family Musical: School Edition (Charles County, Maryland), Berkeley Carroll School's Urinetown (Astoria, New York), Deane Bozeman School's The Night Witches (Panama City, Florida), Emporia High School's A Piece of My Heart (Emporia, Kansas), Fossil Ridge High School's Kimberly Akimbo The Musical: High School Version (Ft. Collins, Colorado), Indiana Thespians' Suffs: High School Version, New Albany High School's Come From Away: High School Version (New Albany, Indiana), North Texas Performing Arts Collegiate Pursuits & Texas Thespians' The Prom (Plano, Texas), Salina High School Central's Clue High School Edition (Salina, Kansas), Warsaw Community High School's Shrek The Musical (Warsaw, Indiana), and Wauwatosa West High School's Dear Evan Hansen: High School Version (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin).

The chosen productions of Kimberly Akimbo, Come From Away, and Dear Evan Hansen are all pilot productions of adaptations of the Broadway musicals made expressly for high school performers, not yet in wide release. Also of note in this year's selection is Indiana Thespians' Suffs, a production made possible via the Educational Theatre Foundation's The Young Are At the Gates Grant last year.

“The ITF Main Stage is becoming a true celebration of school theatre today. It is a snapshot of the artistry, imagination, and bold programming choices happening in classrooms and auditoriums across the country," Dr. Jennifer Katona, EdTA’s executive director, said in a statement. "Expanding performance opportunities is about more than adding slots. It is about expanding access, elevating student voices, and making sure more young artists get the experience of sharing their work on a national stage."

Beyond main stage performances, ITF offers a one-act festival, hundreds of interactive workshops, and a college fair with admission auditions linking students to top theatre programs. Participants can also engage in a developmental workshop of a commissioned one-act play with Stage Partners, collaborate on an original piece with The 24 Hour Plays, and more.

Visit ITF.SchoolTheatre.org.

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