CSU Theatre Students Do It Again

Earlier this semester, CSU students competed at the annual Region 7 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), which brings together exceptional student actors and technicians from across the western states.

The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival is a national theatre program, with over 20,000 participants annually, and, according to the organization’s website, “For 50 years, the organization has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States.”

On Feb. 19-23, more than 1,000 theatre students from Region 7 gathered in Spokane, Washington. During the week-long conference, they participated in workshops; attended symposia, colloquies, and professional presentations; worked with resident artists; and competed for honors, awards, and scholarships for their creative accomplishments in theatre productions at staged at their schools. The KCACTF network of 700 academic institutions throughout the country includes Region 7, comprised of nine western states: Alaska, northern Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., northern Nev., Ore., Wash., and Wyo.

At the 2018 regional festival, CSU Theatre students won many technical theatre awards and two students qualified for the national festival taking place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  On April 9-14. CSU students have won top awards at KCACTF regionals for the last dozen years, and it is the fourth year in a row that they have qualified for finals.

Region VII Awards:

• Meritorious Achievement in Lighting: Jorrey Calvo, junior theatre major, for his work on The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht
• Meritorious Achievement in Lighting: David Van Name, senior theatre major, for his work on Little Shop of Horrors: The Musical by Howard Ashman
• Meritorious Achievement in Scenic Design: Erin Welch, senior theatre major, for her work on Love & Information by Caryl Churchill
• Regional Design Winner Scenic Design: Shay Dite, senior theatre major, for her work on The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht
• Seven Devils Playwright Conference Fellowship: Shay Dite
• National KCACTF Award in Sound Design: Chandler Oppenheimer, senior theatre major, for his work on Love & Information by Caryl Churchill
• National KCACTF Award in Lighting Design: Shaye Evans, junior theatre major, for her work on Three Sistersby Anton Chekhov