Monmouth students take part in American College Theatre
Festival
Release Date: February 1, 2005
MONMOUTH, Ill. — Nine Monmouth College
students served as presenters at the 37th Annual Great Lakes Region
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) at
Illinois State University in Normal last month.
Eleven other Monmouth students attended the event as participants.
A national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges
and universities nationwide, the KCACTF has served as a catalyst in
improving the quality of college theater in the United States. It
has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions,
allowing theater departments and student artists to showcase their
work and receive outside assessment from KCACTF respondents.
Representing Monmouth as presenters were senior Emily Mitsdarffer of
Blue Island; juniors Adam Drake of Rockford, Kelly Winfrey of
Peoria, Adam Riegle of Peotone and Kaitlin Horst of Chicago;
sophomores Charley Pippenger of Hawthorn Woods, Michelle Anstette of
Peoria and Sara Youngs of Highland Park; and freshman Greg Malak of
Orland Park.
Participants in the festival from Monmouth College included juniors
Kim Hurley of LaGrange, Kathleen Koelbl of Roscoe and Sarah Zanger
of Quincy; and freshmen Valerie Key of Glen Ellyn, Sarah Marie
Warren of Quincy and Leanna Wilson of Galesburg.
According to Bill Wallace, professor of speech communication and
theater arts, this was the eighth year Monmouth College has
participated in the festival.
“The festival is an excellent opportunity for our students to attend
plays, take part in valuable workshops and seminars and to generally
interact with more than 1,500 students from our region,” he said.
Wallace added that students learn tips on how to audition for the
profession, how to write résumés for writing, acting and technical
areas and how to become “better theater practitioners.”
Monmouth College had three entries from two fall productions in the
Irene Ryan competition that judges theatrical performances. The
first was Pippenger and Drake from the production “Beyond Therapy.”
Malek and Mitsdarffer performed scenes from “Play On!” and Winfrey
and Horst presented excerpts from “Beyond Therapy.”
Wallace said that while the competition is intense, the Monmouth
students did quite well.
“They are up against undergraduate and graduate students,” he said.
“This kind of competition allows our students to see what it takes
to get to the next level in terms of expertise.”
Meanwhile, Anstette and Youngs both participated in the festival’s
critique and review competition. The students attended theater
productions on site and then wrote critiques that were submitted to
a panel of judges.
Riegle competed in the stage design competition by submitting
drawings and renderings he produced for “Play On!”
The Great Lakes Region in which Monmouth competes includes Illinois,
Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Released
by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330
|
