This past week, approximately 50 students and faculty from URI’s Theatre Department participated in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre (KC/ACTF) 2021 Region 1 Festival. This event offers students the opportunity to attend field-specific workshops, panel discussions, and to collaborate with students from other colleges and universities. Eight URI Theatre students were selected for specialty programs and competitions (listed below). Since its inception, KCACTF has given more than 400,000 college theater students the opportunity to have their work critiqued, improve their dramatic skills, and receive national recognition for excellence. More than 16 million theatergoers have attended approximately 10,000 festival productions nationwide.
KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in: Arts Leadership; Design, Technology, and Management; Directing; Dramaturgy; Performance; Playwriting; and Theatre Journalism/Advocacy. Eight regional festivals take place throughout the year, with the National festival in Washington D.C. taking place in April. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these festivals are offered virtually, allowing more access and opportunities for students. Melie Hayes, (BFA ’22) was an intern for the festival and received a special acknowledgement at the final ceremonies.
The URI Theatre Department had students competing in three national competitions, including the KCACTF/LORT ASPIRE Leadership Fellows Program, The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, and the National KCACTF Musical Theatre Fellowship program. The KCACTF/LORT ASPIRE Leadership Fellows Program is designed to cultivate a new generation of artistic and administrative leaders for the American Theater with a focus of engaging Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and members of other groups that are consistently underrepresented in the field. This diverse national cohort of fellows assembled from all of KCACTF’s eight regions will engage in topics concerning equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism as well as leadership skills building, investigation of institutional challenges, and professional networking opportunities. The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition recognizes, honors, and financially supports outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education. This competition happens in three stages: General, semi-finals, and finals. The National KCACTF Musical Theatre Fellowship program, designed to celebrate, recognize, and foster outstanding musical theatre students from colleges and universities throughout the nation. This competition happens in three stages: General, semi-finals, and finals.
Of the fellowships/scholarships, the URI Theatre Department had 7 students competing in these programs. Alana Parrott (BFA ’22) was selected for the The KCACTF/LORT ASPIRE Leadership Fellows Program along with 16 students regionally. Alana’s presentation won a place at semi finals (one of 6). She was then selected as one of three finalists (pitches) for the final presentations.
The following students were nominated through production work or self-selected for the Irene Ryan Scholarship program. They competed against 168 students, regionally, as candidates for URI Theatre at the festival:
Carleigh Boyle (BFA ’22)
Matthew Corbett (BFA ’21)
Mary Mullane (BFA ’21)
Riley Nedder (BFA ’23)
Matt Oxley (BFA ’21)
Matt Oxley was selected for semi finals (36 students selected), and moved into the final (16 actors) competition group.
Lauren Jannetti (BFA ’21) was selected, along with 32 other students regionally, to represent the department in The National KCACTF Musical Theatre Fellowship program. Lauren was selected for the final competition, as one of 12 students competing in the Fellowship.
We are so proud of all of our student participants and the opportunity that they were afforded. Congratulations to all!
Two faculty members, Assistant Professors Rachel Walshe and James Horban both presented workshops at the conference. Both were extremely interesting and allowed students and faculty from other schools to participate in these unique workshops. James’ presentation was for designers and technicians on LED technology. Rachel’s was targeted to directors, encouraging them to feel more confident in nailing the opening day speech. Both presentations were excellent representations of our skilled faculty.
The Theatre Department would like to thank the Dean of Arts and Sciences for support through the A&S Impact Fund. This fund allowed a record number of students and faculty to have access to this prestigious conference.