In the midst of her slumber in the morning of March 16, junior Ruby Livon was jolted awake by her friends’ shouts. According to Livon, however, there was no reason to be alarmed because this was part of an important theater tradition.

“This morning, I was sleeping peacefully. And then all of a sudden my light turned on, and (my friends) were screaming, ‘Good morning, you’re a Thespian now!’” Livon said. “I had to get ready in five minutes and they rushed me out the door.”

Twice a year, current members of the Thespian Society, which is an extension of the theater program, surprise incoming Thespians by waking them up unexpectedly, with prearranged permission from family members. Junior Sophia Earle said becoming a Thespian is an impressive achievement.

“(Being a Thespian) means that I’ve put time and effort into theater, both the technical side of it and the performance side of it,” Earle said. 

Theater director Jodi Schifsky said the Thespians engaged in some fun activities to honor the new members after being woken up at an early hour.

“(The new Thespians) were brought here where we could be in fellowship, have some breakfast, and then celebrate the new members by honoring them,” Schifsky said. “Each of them gets a poster that, on one side, has pictures of them and their name and then on the backside has personal messages from some of the existing Thespians.”

Theater program members have to meet certain requirements in order to join the Thespian Society, according to Livon.

“This means you are really into theater and it’s very important to you,” Livon said. “There are requirements for becoming a Thespian — you have to work 100 hours in theater, and at least 10 have to be on crew and at least 10 have to be performance.”

Schifsky said Thespians are a crucial foundation for the theater program, and she is glad to have so many new members who have met the requirements to become Thespians.

“I’m excited to have such a large group coming in with a lot of young people because that really builds our theater leadership base,” Schifsky said. “They’re the ones who plan activities, and also help during warmups, since they’re sort of our team captains.”