On Friday, June 2nd, 19 upcoming seniors, juniors, and sophomores were inducted into Menchville High School’s International Thespian Society (ITS), Troupe number 2615.

Students are chosen to be inductees based on how many points they accumulate by being one of the Menchville Players. Each role in a production is worth a different amount of points. For example, being a lead role in a full length musical earns an actor 8 points, and being on the lighting crew for a full length production earns someone 3 points. Once a student has accumulated 10 or more points, they can be inducted into ITS. Drama teacher and troupe leader, Courtney Rice, says that to become a Thespian one must be “passionate about theatre.”

During the ceremony, ITS president Chloe Childress lit the candles of the new inductees, and then the inductees recited quotes from plays and sonnets by William Shakespeare. After all candles were lit and quotes were recited, the inductees made an oath promising to “uphold the aims and ideals of the International Thespian Society.”

After the ceremony, the new Thespians were led into Cafeteria One to have their annual dance called Morp. This year there was a rave-like theme and the inductees from last year decorated the cafeteria with black lights, glow paint, and balloons. There were also refreshments for the Thespians, parents, and inductees.

Next year, Rice plans to attend Virginia Theatre Association conference with the new Thespians.