{"id":34802,"date":"2020-12-16T11:11:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T15:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/?p=34802"},"modified":"2021-02-11T17:26:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:26:50","slug":"50-years-of-nphs-theatre-act-one-the-louden-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/top-stories\/2020\/12\/16\/50-years-of-nphs-theatre-act-one-the-louden-years\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Years of NPHS Theatre; Act One-The Louden Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only a handful of individuals can be considered North Penn legends. It takes someone whose work was so impactful that his or her name will be known throughout the North Penn School District as long as it exists. For these people, North Penn runs through their blood. In 1971, as North Penn High School as we know it (at 1340 Valley Forge Rd) was taking shape, one of those legends was born. Her name is Cindy Louden.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Louden is the founder of North Penn High School Theatre and Thespian Troupe #5464. Over her nearly 40-year career at NPHS, she directed over 100 productions, and left an indelible mark on thousands of Knights.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Scene 1- The Early Days<\/b><\/p>\n

1967-1971 – The transition from Penn St. to Valley Forge Rd<\/b><\/p>\n

In 1967, Louden was working as an English teacher at North Penn High School, when the school currently known as Penndale Middle School was the high school.\u00a0 She also assisted with the school\u2019s senior plays. In 1969, through her public speaking class, Louden received an invitation to participate in the <\/span>Pennsylvania High School Speech League 1-Act Play contest; this contest would end up being the first time the name \u201cNPHS Theatre\u201d was officially used.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got an invitation to join a one act play contest. And that’s what we did. I put it out and we got kids to join. We did a really good version, and happened to win it and went on…that was sort of like the beginning,\u201d Louden said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between 1967 and 1971, there was lots of work occurring surrounding the design of the new high school curriculum. Theatre had only been an extracurricular up to this point, but after the one-act play contest, a group of her students, unbeknownst to Louden, went to the principal petitioning for theatre classes. This petition would eventually become the wide array of theatre classes <\/span>that are offered today.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n