9.17.2026
Eastern Illinois University Theater Department hosted the Panther Performance Festival Saturday, September 12th.
Sophomore theater majors Gentry Cospy and Hailey Purcell hosted the event where students had 24 hours to prepare and rehearse their performance.
According to Cospy, the scope of the event was to make new students feel more welcome within the theater department.
“This is the first time that any of them have the opportunity to perform in front of a crowd.” said Cospy. “So we're just giving them like a really comfortable space to do that, but also to collaborate with other people so they can have fun while they're doing it.”
The 24 hour preparation time required quick thinking and not a whole lot of rehearsal time.
Sophomore theater major Addison Walker said, “It started off a little bumpy just trying to have confidence in what we're doing, but now it's going really well and I'm really proud of the work that we're putting on.”
Ten different performances were put on for the event, ranging from monologues, musical numbers and skits.
Sophomore theater major Zechariah Underwood was in four different performances, all in different musical numbers. Underwood also worked as lighting designer for the event.
“I did not rehearse anything except my tech time, which was just one run through with the people,” said Underwood. “So I literally got to rehearse once the night before and then once during the day. So everything that anybody saw today, which is Saturday, they saw like two rehearsals, which was crazy if you saw it because we did a lot.”
Underwood was not the only person participating in multiple performances.
“I am also doing a contemporary dance solo, a duet with Zach, which is also a contemporary dance, and then I'm in the big ensemble with the 10 others.” said Purcell.
Many members of the Panther Performance Festival consider the event to be a success.
Purcell said, “I think we definitely built up a lot of the freshmen's confidence and we just made new friends along the way and I think that's what's most important.”
Walker said she got to build her confidence on stage and feel better about what she does.
“I think everybody enjoyed it and loved it and just seeing the smiles on people's faces made me think that it was an amazing performance.”
Cospy said he thought the event was a success and that the audience seemed to enjoy it.
“I think my favorite part is just working, collaborating with everybody and me personally trying to make everyone have a good time but also thinking about the audience and making sure the audience has a good time. Because I think both are really important.”