Theater students head to Conn. for workshop and competition in acting, production

 

Twenty University of Rhode Island undergraduate theatre students and one alumna left Tuesday afternoon for five days to attend the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), at Western Connecticut State University. While at the festival they will participate in workshops and competitions for acting, directing and stage production scholarships.

KCACTF is a national theater program which involves up to 18,000 students from universities and colleges across the country. According to the KCACTF website, the festival has “served as a catalyst in improving the quality of College Theater in the United States.”

With a network of 600 academic institutions from across the United States, the festival is a great place for students to showcase their work and receive critical, collaborative feedback from a vast group of their peers.

Seven URI students were nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. In order to compete for the scholarship they will have to present a monologue and a scene. For their scenes, students that were nominated are paired with a partner whom they perform their scenes with. Students were nominated based on their performances in URI’s seasonal shows last year.

URI is partaking in the region one competitions. Competitors will go through a preliminary round, a semi-final round and a final round, with cuts between the rounds. Two winners will be announced after the final round and will go on to attend nationals in Washington D.C. In addition to the competitions, students will be able to partake in playwriting and acting workshops.

Kyle Couture was nominated for the Society for Directing Competition and is going to present a scene, which he is directing with four fellow students. They have been rehearsing for up to a month for the competition. The students who round out his cast include, Ben Church, Steve Carvalho, Maggie Papa and Cassidy McCartan.

        Ally Schiller is competing in the Stage Management Fellowship competition where she will be working with a director to cast, rehearse, and build stage and costumes for a play in 24 hours. She will also be participating in playwriting work. Fellow student Valerie Ferris is participating in the Maltby Musical Theatre Competition.

The students nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship were Ben Church, Kat Riley, Celine Montaudy, Catia Ramos, Emma Walker, Steve Carvalho, and Belamy Brophy-Baermann. The partners for their scenes include Cassidy McCartan, Jake Clarke, Maggie Papa, Emily Carter, Laura Kennedy, Abby Dufresne, and Kyle Couture. Other students who are attending are Lauren Wade, Morgan Clark, Olivia Thornton, and Alijah Dickenson.

A short scene from “Columbinus,” which was directed by Joe Short in February 2016, will be presented. The scene includes Laura Kennedy, Diego Guevara, Steve Carvalho, Jake Clarke, Emma Walker, Ben Church and Emily Carter.

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