Lily Iserson
Contributing Writer
Earlier this month, three College of Wooster theatre students were awarded accolades from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), held this year in Saginaw, Mich. Participants included several larger institutions, such as the University of Michigan, Ball State University and the University of Wisconsin, who represented over one hundred students.
Approximately 18,000 undergraduate theatre students compete in KCACTF for awards, recognition and the chance to improve their craft each year. Roger L. Stevens who is also the founding chairman of the Kennedy Center, is credited for starting the festival in 1969, which has since included over 600 colleges and more than 400,000 KCACTF alumni in its network.
Dale Seeds, professor of theatre and film studies, added, “[KCACTF] has two real values. One is to learn new things and to get critique. It really helps to validate what our students are doing. But it’s also a continuum, because there are a number of extremely talented students who are also showing their work, even graduate students. It really motivates you to do better.”
Ben Pfister ’14, Kent Sprague, ’14 and Sidney Martin ’15, were all awarded top honors in their fields.
Jimmy Noriega, assistant professor of theatre, dance and Latin American studies at COW, said of the student’s accomplishments: “Our theatre students compete at the festival every year and do an excellent job of representing the type of work we do at the College. Watching them excel and grow professionally is a real motivation to everyone in our department.”
Martin, a theatre and dance major from Columbus, Ohio, was awarded Best Prop Design by the Society of Property Design Managers (S.P.A.M) for designing a Frederick the Great bust that was featured in professor Shirley Huston-Findley’s adaptation of The Golden Age, produced at the COW this past fall.
“It is absolutely wonderful knowing that my work was recognized out of all the amazing entries, and I am very grateful for the support my colleagues showed me through the process,” said Martin in a recent interview. As part of her award, she received The Prop Building Guidebook by Eric Hart, which she plans to donate to the College of Wooster’s scene shop. “Overall the entire conference experience provided many useful seminars, an expo filled with other works that inspired me, and a chance to bond with my colleagues in the department in a way that I might not have been able to do on campus.”
Sprague, a theatre and dance major from Dexter, Mich., received an award for his efforts in lighting design. He was asked to participate in a team-based competition that had to analyze and conceptualize a play from scratch over a period of five to six hours. “He also had the opportunity to show his own lighting design exhibition,” said Seeds.
Pfister, a dance and theatre major from White River Junction, Vt., won the KCACTF Stage Management Fellowship for his work on Life Is A Dream, directed by Noriega this past spring.
Pfister will go on to receive a full week of professional theatre training in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center among other finalists, funded entirely on scholarship, and is among the festival’s most prestigious awards.