The In The Wings Players at Valley High School in Louisville, Kentucky has been an active theatre program for 8 years. During that time they have developed the Teen Issue Play Series (TIP Series) to address sensitive topics that students feel need to be addressed in our school and community. The students have taken on the issues of depression, dating and domestic violence, school violence, and the opiate epidemic.
Other plays performed include Murdered to Death, All in the Timing, John Lennon and Me, Back to the 80s, and The Giver. Students have participated in Actor's Theatre Of Louisville's New Voices Playwriting contest, with 2 students having been finalists. We have a student who was a finalist in the Kennedy Center's VSA Playwright Discovery Competition. VHS has had 3 theatre students be selected for the Governor's School for the Arts. In 2020 In The Wings Players performed a shorter version of Ripples at the Southeastern Theatre Conference. In 2018, In The Wings Players have performed BANG! BANG! You're Dead and Real Women Have Curves in KTA Regional and State Competitions. Valley High School theatre students were original cast members in the first JCPS Theatival, a celebration of theatre in the middles schools and high schools in our district.We also have produced a podcast of student work named In The Wings. Students also have the opportunity to join International Thespian Association Troupe 8198 at VHS. In a very short time, the program has become very active in the local and state theatre community.
Valley High School offers theatre classes and stagecraft classes that explore every aspect of theatre production. Students completing the coursework or equivalent work in the productions get the opportunity to write, direct, design, and/or act in the yearly ITS Troupe 8198 Student Play Festival.
In The Wings Players have graduated to work in all major Louisville companies, join the U.S. Armed forces, attend Murray State, Western Kentucky, University of Louisville, Kentucky State University, Jefferson Community and Technical College, Indiana University Southeast, and many others. These students have continued into careers in theatre, the medical field, journalism, teaching, and business. None of these opportunities would have been possible without the support from families, the school community, and our fellow theatre artists.
