Thermond Drama Center provides escape from stress for students

The black walls of the Thermond Drama Center enclose rows of straight-backed chairs and couches. Despite the gloomy description, the small theater buzzes with energy and laughter during lunch.

Senior Shayda Roohparvar and sophomore Melissa Rogan have often hung out in the Thermond Drama Center since their freshman year.

“It’s amazing in here because there are fabulous people in here that I love dearly,” Rogan said.

According to sophomore Conall MacFhionnlaoich, the Thermond Drama Center, formerly known as the Little Theater, is usually busy during play practice, but there is always a steady flow of students during lunch and tutorial keeping it at “equilibrium.”

Students in the drama center are usually talking with each other or doing homework in small groups. Silence is rare because of the constant chatter in the background.

The drama center is usually open most of the day. Drama teacher Sarah Thermond likes to joke that people can visit her any time because she “lives in the Thermond Center.” (The center was named after her mother, Cathie Thermond, a longtime volunteer who has supported drama at the school for many years.)

Typically, students are in the drama center during tutorials, lunch and after school. Around 20 kids flow in and out of the center during the specified times. During the beginning of play practice, there could be up to 35 kids in the drama center. But since the play is nearing its performance nights, practices have been moved to the McAfee Center.

Rogan said she is in the Thermond Drama Center whenever possible. Any time she is not in a class, she can be found there lounging on the couch or chatting with Thermond.

“Sometimes, I feel like I literally spend an entire day in there,” Rogan said. “I feel like its my second home, except with a lot of my friends there.” 

Most of the people who are in the Thermond Drama Center on a daily basis are drama students. The group is small but very cohesive because everyone knows each other, like “a family,” Roohparvar said.

Even so, Rogan said she has brought some of her non-drama friends to spend time in the drama center.

“[They thought it seemed] like a pretty cool place to hang out,” Rogan said.

The first time Roohparvar really spent time in the Thermond Drama Center, she had been having some issues with her friends freshman year and decided to hang out in the theater that day.

“I remembered that [the drama students] had always been so nice to me, so I decided to walk in,” Roohparvar said. “They were like ‘Hey, I know you! You’re in the play,' even though I was a little freshman and they were upperclassmen.”

Because she got to know people well, Roohparvar said she enjoys spending time in the Thermond Drama Center talking to other students.

“We have a lot of really cool conversations about [a variety of topics],” Roohparvar said. “They can get to be really deep and meaningful.”

For instance, Roohparvar once had a stimulating conversation with Rogan and MacFhionnlaoich about the evils of sulfur. They were reading a philosophy book that described various subjects and laughing at how the book described sulfur as “angry, vengeful and creating disharmony.”

Additionally, one of the unusual activities that occur in the drama center is a “cuddle puddle.” During a cuddle puddle, people lie down in a large group on the floor to take a nap or relax.

“Cuddle puddles are literally one of the best things ever,” Roohparvar said. “It’s a cuddle pile, but it’s spread out over the floor.”

Roohparvar said that one of the main things she loves about the Thermond Drama Center is its sense of community—it is easy to talk to everyone no matter what grade level the person are in. People in the drama center are always ready to talk to newcomers. 

“When I was a new freshman, people welcomed me, so I like to do the same for other people,” Roohparvar said.