P.R.O.P.S.
(People Representing Our Performance Standards)

PROPS represents the best that Kings Mountain High School offer in theatre. It is an audition-only class that sets the bar for the quality of theatrical work at KMHS. A tight-knit group of dedicated students, the class is in charge of upholding many of the traditions of the Theatre Department and, occasionally, creating new ones.

The students of PROPS believe that "professional" is more an attitude than a resume and that "P.R.O.P.S." is more than a name; it is a challenge. The challenge is to constantly meet and raise performance standards at Kings Mountain High School. The challenge is to come together so many can create something beyond the ability of one. The challenge is to work with and learn from people vastly different from you. The challenge is to break down preconceptions and understand more about people. The challenge is to make every performance a gift that the audience will cherish and remember.

North Carolina Theatre Conference Play Festivals

From its inception, the primary focus of PROPS has been creating a group of top-notch actors to participate in the North Carolina Theatre Conference (NCTC) Play Festivals. The Play Festival is a celebration of theatre, where each participating school and student gets to show off the best they can do. PROPS was created to represent the best theatre Kings Mountain High School has to offer.

PROPS started participating as a class in the High School Play Festival (HSPF) in 2005, its second year, with All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum and Scooter Thomas Makes It to the Top of the World by Peter Parnell. Kindergarten was student directed, for which it won an Excellence in Directing award, and Scooter garnered a Best Actor award for Patrick Champion. These shows set the standard of excellence that has been part of PROPS's Play Festival performances every year since. Every year has brought new challenges and new successes, culminating in the further raising of the bar with the advancement of Stephen Gregg's S.P.A.R. to the 2009 State High School Play Festival For a complete list of past shows and achievements, visit the PROPS Past page.

After a few years of participation in the HSPF, the class was offered the opportunity to host the Middle School Play Festival (MSPF). Rising to the challenge, PROPS hosted an extremely successful festival and, except for 2010, has been one of the host sites since 2007.

With the success of the MSPF, Kings Mountain High School and the PROPS class were offered the opportunity to host the High School Play Festival in 2008. Since then, Kings Mountain High School has become one of the best sites of the festival and gained a reputation of efficiency and excellence.

"Dannys" Awards Show

The Dannys Awards show was started by the 2005 PROPS class as a way to recognize achievement in the department. The award categories are created and nominees selected by the PROPS class. The entire department then votes for each award, including Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, etc. Some special awards are named after students who distinguish themselves in an area or represent categories outside the norm: Our Stage Management Award is called the Jenn Award after Jennifer Cole, whose work as a stage manager exemplified all that we believe a stage manager should be. The Techie Award is awarded to the best all-around technician as voted by the students. The WIT Award is for the best member of the improv troupe, as voted by the students. The Tomey Award is awarded to a student or students who best represent and uphold the spirit of the department. It is the only Dannys Award chosen outright by the directors of the department. The Sandy Bryson Ely Theatre Department Scholarship is also announced at the Awards Show.

Exploratory Theatre

The PROPS Class also gets to explore new and different forms of theatre that other classes don't get to try. This may vary from dance to advanced improvisation to Gabrielle Roth's 5 Sacred Rhythms. Occasionally this will lead to the creation of new traditions or groups within the theatre department. KMHS's International Thespian Society Troupe, the W.I.T.? Improv Troupe, and the Dannys Awards are all examples of ideas that started with PROPS.