The Department of Theatre & Dance (THAD) at Winona State University has been invited by the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), Region 5 to perform a scene from THAD’s production of “As You Like It” at this year’s festival in Des Moines, Iowa Jan. 22-28.
THAD is one of only nine college theatre departments from Region 5’s seven states – Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa – to be selected to perform in KCACTF “Invited Scenes.”
Nominations to perform at the festival are made by KCACTF respondents who attend Region 5 productions. From the overall nominations submitted by respondents, a limited number of scenes are selected in December and invited to perform at the opening ceremonies of the festival.
THAD’s production of “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare and directed by Jim Williams, was performed in April at the Vivian Fusillo Mainstage Theatre at WSU. Two actors from the production, THAD juniors, Cody Anderson and Kayla Nelson were nominated as Irene Ryan acting nominees and will be competing with other Region 5 acting nominees at the festival. In addition, a number of THAD students will also be attending the festival and participating in workshops that range from audition techniques to elements of theatrical design and theatre administration.
As a national theatre education program, KCACTF’s aims are to identify and promote quality in college-level theatre production. To this end, each production entered is eligible for a response by a regional KCACTF representative, and selected students and faculty are invited to participate in KCACTF programs involving playwrights, designers, stage managers and critics at both the regional and national levels. Last year more than 1,300 productions were entered in the KCACTF involving more than 200,000 students nationwide.
WSU’s Department of Theatre & Dance is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).
