Theater students bring home 15 awards from regional festival

By T.C. Sprencel
University News Service
March 15, 2010

Students in the Texas State University-San Marcos theater department recently participated in the Kennedy Center’s regional American College Theater Festival, garnering 15 total awards and three trips to the national festival in Washington, D.C.

Both students and faculty from the theater department attended the regional festival, which was held at Amarillo College Feb. 23-27 and hosted schools from Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Three Texas State students were selected to take their work to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April: graduate students Caleb Straus and Christine Tankersly for their work in directing, and senior Stephen Wood for sound design.

“This is the highest number of individual honors in a single year, and extends our streak to 10 straight years of being recognized at the Kennedy Center,” said John Fleming, chair of the Department of Theater and Dance. “It reflects very positively on all the faculty, staff, and students of the department.”

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, is a program aimed at improving the quality and awareness of college theater nationwide. The event, which has grown to include more than 600 academic institutions, is divided into eight regional festivals, which bring together students and faculty to showcase their work and share ideas. Top performers from the regional festivals are selected to participate in the national festival.

For more information, please visit the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org.