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COLIN KISSEL: Good afternoon inductees, directors, and fellow Thespians. My name is Colin Kissel and I am a ___star Thespian of Troupe No. 3537 of St. Xavier High School. it is a pleasure to welcome you here to share in the induction of 20 members into St. Xavier High School’s Troupe No. 3537 of the International Thespian Society.
Through hard work, sacrifice, and dedication, the candidates have earned sufficient points on a scale dictated by the International Thespian Society to have the right to be called Thespians. It is a title of honor, signifying a commitment to an art as old as humanity.
DANIEL VARGHESE: Commitment to theatre is what the International Thespian Society is all about. The Society was established in 1929 at Fairmont State College, Fairmont, West Virginia, by Dr. Earl Blank, who was then the director of dramatics at the high school in Casper, Wyoming; Dr. Paul Opp, a member of the college faculty; and
Harry Leeper, a teacher at East Fairmont High School.
They named their organization the National Thespian Society for Thespis, the Greek who, according to legend, was the first actor; their guiding principle was a dedication to excellence in theatre arts in secondary schools. Seventyone schools became charter members of the society. The first national convention and election of officers was held in 1930. From this modest beginning, the organization enjoyed steady growth, and in the next five years, the membership had increased to 320 troupes. The national office was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1935. By the time the Society had celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, there were 3,190 troupes on its rolls.
ROBERT CROTTY: At that point, the Society had grown into an international organization with more than a million members and troupes in every state and many foreign countries.
The goals of the International Thespian Society haven’t changed. It still strives to give young adults a place for outstanding theatre where the standards of excellence in theatre arts will be advanced, and to honor those students who do theatre well. And it continues to be guided by the principles of its founders: a belief that participation in the arts is an essential means of widening students’ cultural horizons and enriching their lives.
MASON VOWELS: Let us pause to reflect on the many aspects of the evolution of our art, which encompasses all of the major forms of human expression. The history of theatre is the history of all people. It is the continuing search to find the answers to the awesome mysteries that motivate the human personality.
During the sixth century before Christ, one of the writers of tragedy who won the approval of the priests at the
Festival of Dionysus was Thespis. About 535 B.C. a new dimension was added to drama when Thespis, who was a prominent leader of the Greek chorus, stepped from that group and recited portions of the drama alone. In the moment he separated himself from the chorus, Thespis became the first actor. We also believe that it was he who first used masks so that a person could portray more than one part.
In honor of this early Greek writer, all actors are called Thespians. In his honor we are the International Thespian
Society. We have as our emblem the two masks of comedy and tragedy etched in colors of gold and blue bound together with the Thespian ‘T.’ We light this candle in memory of Thespis. We light it to remind the wearers of the masks that the emblem represents a proud and dignified heritage, and that this heritage is now entrusted to us.
Tony Newton will now light our troupe candle.
(The Thespian with the highest points will light the troupe candle from which all the other candles will be lit.

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TOMMY BELL: No one knows when people began to dance. Archaeologists believe that people have always danced. To pacify the frightening forces of nature and to express joy in the gentle beauty around them, primitive people, by means of rhythmic movement and pantomime, communed with a being that both protected and threatened them. Today we see this use of dance in numbers like Judas’ suicide in Jesus Christ Superstar, the “He
Plays the Violin “waltz in 1776, and the curtain call for Arsenic and Old Lace.
ANDREW BLAKE: Early people realized that everything around them had a rhythmic pattern. They saw this in the path of the sun, in the changing seasons, in the movement of animals, and in their own heartbeats. In their attempt to understand their world and to worship their gods, they imitated those rhythms and developed the earliest known form of performance. When a hunter wished to boast of his skill, he leaped into the circle about the fire and relived his exploits. Dance began to tell stories. Today we see dance telling stories in numbers such as
“The Lees of Old Virginia”” in 1776 and the dance numbers in Oedipus the King as well as “Hosanna” in Jesus Christ
Superstar and “Thriller” and “Monster Mash” in Arsenic and Old Lace. To the primitive mind, this was magic; to us, it is pantomime. Even today we see the art of pantomime in our eXpress and Groundlings shows.
CALEB LAMPPIN: Wherever people lived, the dance-drama developed. As the intellectual powers of the human being became more acute, the dance became more complex. Gradually, through the ages, people learned to live in two worlds. In addition to the savage world of reality in which people worked and fought for existence, people created another of rhythm and imagination which expressed in dance and action their emotions, prayers, hopes, dreams, and sometimes simply the joys of the human existence. I light this candle from the Thespian candle in honor of the art of acting without words—dance and pantomime.
The speaker lights the candle from the Thespian candle and places it in a pre-assigned holder, and stands aside for
the performance and/or speech about music.
CORY LENTZ: Music is the language of time and space. From the prehistoric era to the present moment, music is a record of human feelings. Early people responded to the environment about them, finding their music in the natural world.
DAVID DUNAWAY: People detected pitch in the cries of animals, and tone quality in the wailing of the wind. They discovered rhythm in their own footsteps. The first songs were shouts of joy and fear, and these shouts echoed again and again in triumphs and defeats, thus releasing people’s innermost feelings. For the first musical instruments, there were two sticks banging simultaneously or stones clapped together in repeated beats.
The music talked to gods or communicated with others through hand clapping, stomping, shouting, and the use of instruments.
GEOFFREY BOHN: The beginnings of music are buried with the countless centuries, but through the persistence of that mysterious inner force that requires all people to express themselves, humanity has found musical form in tone quality, pitch, and rhythm. In our own time, we showcase good music in plays such as Jesus Christ Superstar,
1776, and even Arsenic and Old Lace. I light this candle in honor of the musical expression of ideas and feelings that enhance so much of theatre today.
The speaker lights the candle from the Thespian candle and stands aside for the performance and/or speech about speech.

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TONY NEWTON: Pantomime and rhythm were not sufficient for early people who were endowed with an intellect.
Even in a desolate existence, people sought to communicate ideas to other minds. Thus, people became adventurers, daring to enter the realm of reasoning and creativity.
In this new world, words could become symbols for thoughts, and as a result, speech became a part of the total experience of the human race. It was enough for other creatures to communicate danger or need through chirps or calls, but it was not enough for human beings, who wished to express concepts that were only imagined.
NATE DONNINGER: Today, while we can touch the past through speech and reach into our imaginings of the future with speech, perhaps what is even more astounding is that we can reveal our thoughts, hopes, and inspirations to other people through that same medium. In our theatre today we experience beautiful speeches beautifully performed, whether they are the dialogue between Oedipus, Creon, the Corinthian Messenger, and
Tieresias or John Dickinson’s stinging speech to John Adams in 1776 or the rapid-paced comic dialogue in Arsenic and Old Lace.
I light this candle in honor of speech, which lifts human beings from ordinary reality to entire worlds beyond, especially the worlds created on the stage.
The speaker lights the candle from the Thespian candle and stands aside for the performance and/or speech about dramatic literature.
DOUG KRAUTH: In our western culture, dramatic literature grew in part out of the worship of Dionysus, the youthful god of wine and revelry. Because of the importance of this deity to the ancient Greeks, they honored him each year with elaborate festivals, during which a chorus of men dressed as satyrs, mythical beings who were half goat and half man, and danced about an altar chanting his praise. Thus was born the Greek chorus, and it became a central focus in the development of the powerful tragedies of the golden age of Greek drama.
ANDREW BLAKE: Around 600 B.C., playwrights presented their plays in annual festivals in the great theatre of
Dionysus at Athens. Each hoped to win the approval of the priests whose privilege it was to choose the best play and to bestow a prize upon the writer.
I light this candle in honor of dramatic literature, each script depicting the agonies and comedies of the human drama and providing the map to guide the process of creating theatre.”
The speaker lights the candle from the Thespian candle and stands aside for the performance and/or speech about the theatre.
MICHAEL STAIRS: In a very real sense, the theatre today knows no bounds. While primitive people pantomimed around the fire, and the Greek actor portrayed his agony of spirit in the dancing circle, the modern performer presents his soul searching on a stage, the seeing place, and in an auditorium, the hearing place.
The theatre speaks to all of us, and at the same time it speaks for all of us. It is a critical voice, exhorting people to become aware of the world in which they live, and to pass judgment upon it. It is a social voice, exhibiting both our nobility and our pettiness. Most of all, it is a prophetic voice.
JACK KENNAMER : The events that affect our future are given form through the use of the techniques of the modern theatre. The theatre of today has accepted the challenge of its time. It is stripping away the masks of
Thespis and is revealing the complexities of the human condition with an uncompromising vigor and honesty.

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MICHAEL STAIRS : Theatre has outgrown the confines of the seeing place. No building can contain the impact of this most powerful force that brings together all forms of art and artistic achievement. Truly, to paraphrase
Shakespeare, all the world is our stage, and we men and women are its players.
I light this candle in honor of all that is drama, from the use of artistic lighting to focus attention, to the painting of the scenery or the sculpture of a costume or the makeup on an actor’s face, from the soundless movements of acting to the rhythmic movements of dance, from the playwright’s script that will heighten our awareness of the world to the spoken speech, I honor all the arts that are theatre.
The speaker lights this last candle from the Thespian candle and stands aside for the speaker who will read the accomplishments of each of the students who have earned the right to become Thespians. Each student will receive their membership card and certificate (along with a Thespian pin).
TOMMY BELL: Theatre has meant a lot to all of us here. Theatre has changed our lives for the better. Right now a few of our senior Thespians will share what theatre and the theatre community has meant to them.
1.
TONY NEWTON
2.
COLIN KISSEL
3.
NATHAN DONINGER
COLIN KISSEL: The following students have met the requirements for membership in the International Thespian
Society, an honor and a reward for their participation in the theatre program at this school. As we read your name and your accomplishments that have earned you this honor, please step forward for your membership card, certificate, and membership pin. Also, please move to Caleb and sign the Thespian roster. Your certificate serves as evidence of the honor you have received for helping to promote the theatre arts program in this school.
Your membership card is your identification as a Thespian. This will serve as a reminder of the responsibilities you assumed when accepting membership in the society. Your insignia pin of gold and blue will indicate to others that you are part of an honored international group. May you wear it with pride. Audience, will you please hold all your applause until the end.
Members are called forward one by one. The Thespian introducing them will sum up their major accomplishments. Caleb will help each one sign the roster. Jack will give each one his certificate and membership card, and Cory will give each one his membership pin. The members listed below will sum up their new Thespian’s accomplishments on an index card which they will read. Quenton will oversee this process and keeps them standing in the pit, facing the stage, when they’ve finished signing.
MICHAEL STAIRS : Bryce Liebert, please come forward. (To audience.) Bryce was __________.
Sums up Bryce’s 4-5 major accomplishments
Bryce, welcome to ITS,
Each of the following speakers will introduce his new Thespian using the format above to prepare the address. The introductions do not have to follow the order below—rather each speaker should step to the podium in turn and introduce his subject.
1.
Michael Stairs introduces Jesse Zickel.
2.
Robert Crotty introduces Patrick Macke
3.
Daniel Varghese introduces Quinn Carrico
4.
Tommy Bell introduces Tucker Creger
5.
DAVID DUNAWAY introduces Michael Hommrich
6.
Tony Newton introduces Sam Newton

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7.
Mason Vowels introduces Ben Otten
8.
Doug Krauth introduces Steve Renbarger
9.
Colin Kissel introduces Will Thompson
10.
Nate Doninger introduces Shawn Franklin
11.
David Dunaway introduces Erik Vokoun
12.
Robert Crotty introduces Alex Underwood
13.
Geoffrey Bohn introduces Alex Haydon
14.
Colin Kissel introduces Cameron Williams
15.
Tony Newton introduces Seiler Smith
16.
Nate Doninger introduces Stewart Barnett
17.
Mason Vowels introduces Chris Herde
18.
CORY LENTZ introduces Michael Hook
19.
Robert Crotty introduces Abishek Mahesh
TONY NEWTON: While membership in the society is an honor, it is also evidence of your continuing desire to work toward higher standards for theatre productions in education and arts programs. Therefore, membership places upon you the obligation of performing your best with the knowledge that greater honors come to those who accept greater responsibilities through cooperation with others.
COLIN KISSEL: I now ask all new and old members of Thespian Troupe No. 3537 to rise and repeat the pledge after. All Thespians in the audience are also invited to stand and say the pledge.
I promise to uphold (pause for them to repeat the line.)
the aims and ideals of the International Thespian Society.
I am a student of theatre and excellence is my ideal.
I promise to perform my part—onstage or off-stage-- as well as I can;
to accept praise and criticism with grace; to cooperate with my fellow Thespians
and work for the good of the troupe; and to share my love of theatre.
Please return to your seats.
NATE DONINGER: The pledge that you have just taken binds you to the principles and ideals of the International
Thespian Society.


You are to do the tasks assigned to you.
You are to cooperate with your troupe officers and fellow students as well as your teachers and administrators in helping to raise the standards of excellence in all areas of your experience.

You are to refrain from any action that may hinder the work of your troupe.

You are to conduct yourselves so that you may gain the respect of your school and your community.
TONY NEWTON: By the authority delegated to me by the International Thespian Society, I now declare you members of Troupe No. 3537 of St. Xavier High School.
MASON VOWELS: Congratulations and welcome to the International Thespian Society. Always remember our motto which comes from Alexander Pope’s ‘Essay on Man’: ‘Act well your part; there all the honor lies.’”
Audience, please give our new Thespians a round of applause.

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1.
Andrew Blake
2.
Caleb Lamppin
3.
Patrick Macke
4.
Tommy Bell
5.
Geoffrey Bohn
6.
Adam Brewer
7.
Bryce Liebert
8.
Michael Stairs

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ROBERT CROTTY: This concludes our induction ceremony this afternoon. Thank you for attending this ceremony; your continued support and appreciation of our accomplishments serve to strengthen our society. Our first order of business will be to elect officers for this current year. We need to elect a President, Vice-President, and Senior
Governor from the senior class as well as governors from the junior and sophomore classes. As our guests for today’s ceremony leave the auditorium, I ask all Thespians to move down front so we can elect our officers.