Last weekend, a few dozen Colorado State University Theatre students and faculty attended the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional event. For 2016, the Region Seven festival was held at the Embassy Suites Denver Downtown, Feb. 15-19, and was hosted in tandem by the Community College Of Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the University of Colorado at Denver.

The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) annually recognizes excellence in production in addition to offering student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in areas of playwriting, acting, criticism, directing, and design. CSU Students from the Design and Technology, Performance, Playwriting and Dramatic Literature, and Directing concentrations competed in various categories, with five students winning six awards.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our strong showing at regionals this year,” said Set Design Professor Roger Hanna. “We continued the CSU tradition of earning the top prizes in sound design, as well as winning other design areas.”

The KCACTF Region 7 is comprised of nine western states including Alaska, northern Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., northern Nev., Ore., Wash., and Wyo. Over 1,000 theatre students from the region convene annually to celebrate the creative process, view each other’s work, and share experiences within the community of theatre art.

KCACTF is a national program, with over 18,000 participants annually, and, according to the organization’s website, “[KCACTF] has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theatre in the United States.”

By winning National Awards for their work on last year’s CSU Theatre production of The Hobbit by Patricia Gray, recent graduate JJ Margolis and senior Mackenzie Cunningham are eligible to compete at the KCACTF National Festival in Washington D.C., April 11-16, 2016. This is Cunningham's second consecutive appearance at the national competition.

“I’m especially delighted to see Mackenzie earn not just one top prize, but both of them – she has been considering job offers all weekend,” said Hanna.  “These wins confirm what we already knew: we have the best theatre design program, with the best students, in the region!”