BWW Blog: Alyssa Sileo - NJ Thesfest 2017: Central Jersey Exists

Saturday competitions and the short film festival, I grabbed my friend Mady by the hand, rushed downstairs from our Troupe 5480 corner on the second floor, and asked as many New Jersey Thespians as I could the most polarizing question you could whip out on any East Coaster.

Here's the data I've collected, along with some of their sentiments.

"Does Central Jersey exist?"
A poll conducted at 4pm on 1/14.

Yes: 23 votes.

"Yes, there is such a thing, because I live there."

"Even though Northern is New York, and Southern is Philly, we still exist. I say so because we have nice accents."

No: 16 votes.

"What's that? I've never heard of it. I don't think so."

"Nope. You have the beaches and Six Flags. That's it. That's what Jersey is."

I guess: 1 vote.

"Culturally, no. But in reality, yes."

It depends: 5 votes.

"Well does New Jersey even exist?"

"It's all cornfields, but they're real cornfields."

And I have to say--South Jersey may have the theatre hub of Philadelphia, and North Jersey may have New York, but the arts are alive and well at a Central Jersey Thespian Festival.

I've also collected some auxiliary data. NJ Thespians can indeed sing four Hamilton songs after a full day of competitions, and we also have the biggest hearts. The Festival housed many Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids fundraisers, and that weekend alone the Thespians collected over $1,000 for BCEFA, and in our minute-to-win-it game, we raised $500 that will go toward sending a troupe to International Thespian Festival.

That's what heartens me the most, makes me cheer the loudest, and sometimes gets me emotional--it's how even us young people care so deeply about arts outreach. It's how a 5480 member and my pAl Kelly Bagby organized a presentation that displayed my troupe's advocacy work that awarded us the Community Engagement accolade. It's how my teacher Ms. Lynch-Walsh took her Gold Level troupe and raised a remarkable sum for BCEFA. It's how The Laramie Project Project team watched the first LPP performance at the chapter select competition, and afterward had the honor of interviewing Hoboken High School Troupe 7268. We asked them questions about theatre advocacy and an artist's role in changing the world.

It's hard to say that Central Jersey doesn't exist, after having a monumental weekend in one of its high schools, and after the troupes shared such special moments with each other. I sometimes wish every theatre experience was like this--a harrowing, weekend long celebration that tests our boundaries, throats, and ability to navigate a new school and several medals.

We come out of it realizing some things about ourselves that we thought were unreal.

Thespian is the best thing to happen to me in high school. It's a dream to say that I'm Nebraska bound this June for International Thespian Festival. This has been my goal for most of my high school career. I'm ready for the best week of my life with my best friends as we live theatre at University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

(Plug: The Laramie Project Project doesn't ring a bell? Check out my blog "Attention Theatre Teachers and Students" for more info about the nationwide movement with a New Jersey heart.)