UW Students Claim High Honors at Regional Theater Festivals

University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance students attended two regional theater festivals in late February, and four members received top honors in the competitions.

A group consisting of more than 30 students and faculty members from UW attended the Region VII Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) and the Northwest Drama Conference, both at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash.

The theater festivals included a week of seminars, symposia, workshops and competitions.

The four UW student award recipients are:

-- Senior Andrew Thornton, from Riverton, won the KCACTF Region VII Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition, receiving UW's 14th regional award since 1990, a national record. The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships provide recognition, honor and financial assistance to outstanding student performers wishing to further pursue education.

-- Thornton and his scene partner, senior Jared Mohr-Leiva, from Thermopolis, are eligible to compete at the national level at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April. They represent UW as one of only eight pairs of collegiate actors in the U.S. chosen to participate in the National Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship audition. For details, visit the website at http://web.kennedy-center.org/education/kcactf/awards/IreneRyan.

-- Jordan Clark, a junior from Parker, Colo., was chosen as the sole Best Scene Partner for the Region VII Irene Ryan competition.

-- Senior Adrianna True, from Cheyenne, was the recipient of an achievement award in the George R. Caldwell Undergraduate Scholarly Paper Award for her paper, titled “TARTUFFE: Breaking of Manners.”

KCACTF is part of a national theater program involving students from more than 600 academic institutions nationwide. Region VII KCACTF includes Alaska, northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

At all levels, KCACTF festivals and associated programs serve as a catalyst in recognizing, encouraging and improving the quality of university and college theater in the United States by creating opportunities for theater departments and student artists to showcase their work and receive outside assessment by selected respondents.