Students and faculty of the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University have been honored with 12 awards in direction, production, acting, and playwriting by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF).
The artists were recognized at the 2018 KCACTF National Festival, held April 9 – 14 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
This year’s winners include:
- Outstanding Director of a New Work: Todd Ristau for Cold by Ben Jolivet
- Outstanding Production of a New Work: Cold by Ben Jolivet
- Distinguished Production of a New Work: Absence Makes the Heart by Sean Abley
- Distinguished Performance and Production Ensemble: Cold by Ben Jolivet
- Distinguished Performance by an Actress in a Play: Bonny Branch in Cold by Ben Jolivet
- Distinguished Performance by an Actress in a Play: Emma Sperka in Cold by Ben Jolivet
- Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Playwriting: Ben Jolivet for Cold
- Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Performance: Susie Young in Absence Makes the Heart by Sean Abley
- Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Playwriting: Meredith Dayna Levy for She Made Space
- Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Directing: Lauren Brooke Ellis for She Made Space by Meredith Dayna Levy
- Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Dramaturgy: Katie Stueckle for She Made Space by Meredith Dayna Levy
- Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Performance: Meredith Dayna Levy for She Made Space by Meredith Dayna Levy
The KCACTF has served as a catalyst for improving the quality of college theater in the United States for nearly 50 years. Featuring a network of more than 700 academic institutions throughout the country, the organization celebrates the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs and encourages institutions of higher learning to give distinguished productions of new plays, especially those written by students. The KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, dramatic criticism, directing, and design.
Photo caption: Todd Ristau (right), director of the M.F.A. program in playwriting at Hollins, is congratulated on receiving the KCACTF’s 2018 Outstanding Director of a New Work award.
