January 26, 2005
Purdue Theatre excels at regional competition
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Theatre earned several awards at the recent Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region III competition, which took place Jan. 11-15 at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill.
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Purdue's presentation of its fall 2004 production of "Buried Child," which was part of the festival's showcase, earned the entire theater company the Golden Hand Truck Award for outstanding load-in and strike of a production set.
Also, seven student actors and designers from Purdue Theatre's other 2004 productions earned individual awards at the regional festival, which featured outstanding collegiate theater performances from a five-state region in the Midwest.
"The performance of our theater students at the festival was truly outstanding," said Russ Jones, division chair of Purdue Theatre. "The experience our students get by presenting their work at the regional festival is extremely beneficial. The festival also has become an important conduit for the faculty in recruiting undergraduate students into our graduate programs."
"Buried Child," which was written by Sam Shepard, is a tragic and wryly humorous examination of the deterioration of a common Midwestern American family. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 and a Tony Award for Best Play for its 1996 revival.
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Purdue Theatre's fall production of the play, which ran Nov. 11-21 in Stewart Center's Experimental Theatre, was one of only 12 collegiate productions selected for the festival's regional showcase. Richard Sullivan Lee, associate professor of theater, directed the original Purdue production.
"Although our production of 'Buried Child' was not considered for further presentation at the national festival, the Golden Hand Truck Award is a coveted award," Jones said. "It says a lot about our department as a whole, both behind the scenes and on the stage itself."
Among Purdue's individual honorees at the regional festival were four winners, two alternate selections and one honorable mention selection.
• Amanda Folena (first-year graduate student, San Jose, Calif.) won the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition for her efforts in the role of Alexa Vere de Vere in "As Bees in Honey Drown."
• Audrey Watson (senior theater major, Tipton, Ind.) won the Mehron Award for Excellence in Make-Up for her work on "Buried Child."
• Jesse Dreikosen (third-year graduate student, Spencer, Wis.) won the Barbizon Award for Scenic Design Excellence for his work on "King Lear."
• Tiffany Fier (first-year graduate student, Hudson, Wis.) won the Regional Scenic Design Project Award for her work on "Macbeth."
• Anthony Galaska (second-year graduate student, Stevens Point, Wis.) was selected as an alternate for the Barbizon Award for Lighting Design Excellence for his work on "Buried Child" and "Hay Fever."
• Andrew Ochalek (senior theater major, Romeo, Mich.) was selected as an alternate for the Barbizon Award for Sound Design Excellence for his work on "Buried Child."
• Katie Miles (senior theater major, Fort Wayne, Ind.) earned honorable mention in the Regional Costume Design Project competition for her work on "Macbeth."
For their individual efforts, Folena, Watson and Dreikosen received all-expense-paid trips to the national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival competition, as did Folena's acting partner in the competition, Joe Quadres (first-year graduate student, Los Angeles, Calif.).
The national festival will take place April 18-24 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
"Amanda's success is quite impressive considering that only two winners were chosen in the acting competition from among 289 entrants," Jones said. "That definitely puts her in a class by herself."
In addition, Purdue assistant theater professor Joel Ebarb was named as one of the festival's Region III nominees for a fellowship with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's Summer Intensives program.
Ebarb is one of eight people being considered for a costume design fellowship with the program, which offers selected faculty and students the opportunity to work for two weeks alongside distinguished national theater personnel.
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, started in 1969, is a national theater education program that identifies and promotes quality in college-level theater production. Each year, more than 1,200 productions involving more than 20,000 students nationwide take part in the festival.
Since its inception, the festival has given more than 400,000 college theater students the opportunity to have their work critiqued and receive national recognition for excellence. More than 16 million theatergoers have attended approximately 10,000 festival productions nationwide.
Writer: Aaron Martin, (765) 496-3133, martinac@purdue.edu
Source: Lori Sparger, Purdue Theatre marketing director, (765) 494-3084, lsparger@cla.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: Photos from other shows also are available. For more information, contact Lori Sparger, Purdue Theatre marketing director, at (765) 494-3084, theatre@purdue.edu.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Matriarch Hallie (Caley Milliken) reels after her family's darkest secret is revealed in a scene from Purdue Theatre's fall production of Sam Shepard's "Buried Child." Purdue's production of the play earned the Golden Hand Truck Award for load-in and strike of a production set at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region III competition, which took place Jan. 11-15 at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. The production originally played in November at Purdue in Stewart Center's Experimental Theatre. (Purdue Theatre file photo)
A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2005/buried-child2.jpg
PHOTO CAPTION:
Socialite Alexa Vere de Vere, played by Amanda Folena, reacts during a scene from Purdue Theatre's fall production of Douglas Carter Beane's play, "As Bees in Honey Drown." Folena's efforts in the role earned her first place in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region III competition, which took place Jan. 11-15 at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. The production originally played in October at Purdue's Black Box Theatre. (Purdue Theatre file photo)
A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2005/beesdrown.jpg
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