FOCUS: Drama Students Win Regional Awards (Chloe Barnes)

Thirteen JSU Drama students and Professor Ellen Peck attended the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region IV competition in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on  February 5^th-9^th. Many of the students competed in areas such as acting, dramaturgy, design/technology, and devised theatre, with Rebecca Weaver winning first place in dramaturgy and Ansley Gayton winning a Legacy Award in design, technology, and management.  The JSU devised theatre group was selected to perform at the awards gala.  Congrats to all students who competed.

ACTING:

Two JSU Drama students were nominated and competed in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions:

Chloe Barnes was nominated for her role as Tilly Evans in She Kills Monsters. Her acting partner was Benjamin Marazzi. They competed with scenes from Lend Me A Tenor, by Ken Ludwig, and Angels in America, by Tony Kushner. Barnes also performed a monologue from Julius Caesa,r by William Shakespeare.

Jessika Holmes was nominated for her role as Vera in She Kills Monsters. Her acting partner was Christian Watts. They competed with scenes from For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, by Christopher Durang, and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen. Holmes also performed a monologue from Henry VI Part 3, by William Shakespeare.

DRAMATURGY:

Rebecca Weaver was nominated for her work as the dramaturg of JSU Drama’s production of She Kills Monsters. At the festival, she competed in the LMDA/KCACTF Dramaturgy competition. Weaver had the opportunity to work with student directors, actors, and fellow dramaturgs on new plays written by student playwrights. She also attended dramaturgy intensives with a professional playwright and was interviewed for her work on She Kills Monsters.

At the KCACTF Region IV awards gala on Saturday night, Weaver was honored as one of the first-place winners for the LMDA/KCACTF Dramaturg competition.

DESIGN:

Ansley Gayton was nominated for her work as the assistant projection designer of JSU Drama’s production of She Kills Monsters. At the festival, Gayton presented photos and videos of her work from the show in a technical interview with several professional respondents.

During the KCACTF Region IV Design awards, Gayton won the Legacy Award in Design, Technology, and Management, which recognizes a student showing initiative who is presenting for the first time at KCACTF.

Kelby King was nominated for her work as a draper for JSU Drama’s production of She Kills Monsters. At the festival, King also presented photos and examples of her work in a technical interview with several professional respondents.

DEVISED THEATRE:

Near the end of the Fall 2018 semester, Larry Mason put together a devised theatre group, which later became known as The Hypothetical Theatre Group. They decided to create a piece of devised theatre and preform it at KCACTF. The members of the group included Larry Mason, Eric Wilkerson, Rebecca Weaver, Chloe Barnes, Jake Lewis, Sean Golson, Kevin Jannot, Ansley Gayton, and Kelby King.

Following a prompt given by the KCACTF officials, the group wrote their own 20-minute devised piece entitled No Brains, No Entry and brought their own costumes and props to the festival. Before performing the piece on Friday morning, it was announced that out of the four devised pieces performing, the respondents would be choosing one of the pieces to represent devised theatre through performance at the KCACTF awards gala. No Brains, No Entry was the piece chosen by the respondents, and several of JSU’s drama students had the opportunity to perform for all attending the festival.  They received a certificate commending their work.