BROOKINGS – South Dakota State University student Mary Hendricks won the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 5 Award for costume design excellence and will travel to Washington, D.C., in April to display her work.
Hendricks, a theater major from Sioux Falls, was honored for her work in State University Theatre’s production of “Hedda Gabler.” She also had designs selected for the regional festival costume parade.
The KCACTF5 Regional Festival was Jan. 19-25 in Sioux Falls and hosted by SDSU and the University of South Dakota. According to SDSU associate professor and Region 5 chair W. James Wood, 1,549 students from 90 institutions attended. KCACTF5 includes colleges and universities from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota. Events were held at the Washington Pavilion, the Orpheum Theatre and the Holiday Inn City Centre.
Wood and Billy Wilburn, SDSU associate professor and Region 5 vice chair of design technology and management, were assisted by SDSU professors Corey Shelsta and J.D. Ackman and other theater faculty at the festival.
Twenty SDSU students participated in a variety of workshops, attended invited productions from around the region and presented professional auditions. SDSU students also competed in stage management, aspire arts leadership, musical theater intensive, costume and properties design and Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship auditions. Students also volunteered in numerous positions.
Braden Paulsen, Brandon, music education and theater; Morea Nichols, Alvord, Iowa, theater; and Jacob Womack, Aberdeen, communication studies, reached the scholarship competition semifinals along with scene partners Jacob Hegland, Brandon, electrical engineering; Hanna Bricker, Belle Fourche, theater; and Anna Kitto, Flandreau, theater. They were among 66 of 325 students in the semifinals.
Other student accomplishments include:
• Nichols was chosen as first alternate in the KCACTF Region 5 Musical Theatre Intensive and performed in the Musical Theatre Intensive Cabaret. If the regional winner is not able, Nichols will travel to the Kennedy Center in April to represent SDSU and Region 5; and
• Keith Campbell, Brookings, theater, auditioned for and was chosen for the Long-form Improv Intensive.
