Students Brian Matthews and Sissy Hofaker in ‘The Maids.’
Flagler College’s Theatre Arts Department has taken the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Awards by storm, earning seven national awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play for its November performance of Jean Genet’s “The Maids.”
Other awards for the play included Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Play, which went to student Brian Harold Matthews; Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Play, to students Sissy Hofaker and Becca Woods; Outstanding Costume Design, to resident designer Elaina Wahl-Temple; Outstanding Ensemble of a Play, to the production’s cast; and Distinguished Director of a Play, to guest director and Flagler alumnus Joe Kemper.
This is the first time Flagler College has been recognized at KCACTF nationally.
“Having the Theatre Arts Department’s production of ‘The Maids’ recognized in this way is an incredible honor,” said Associate Professor and Department Chair Andrea McCook. “These awards and attending the national festival is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
McCook also emphasized broad institutional support for the department’s participation in the festival.
“From Dean (Alan) Woolfolk and the Office of Academic Affairs, to Barbara Blonder and the Office of Undergraduate Research and to the Business Office, we are extremely grateful to the institution, which made it possible for the production to go to the regional festival, where we were noticed on the national level,” she said.
KCACTF hosts the Irene Ryan acting competition and is comprised of a network of more than 600 schools throughout the country. Theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents. Of the eight regions nationally, Flagler College is a part of Region IV. This year’s competition, held at Georgia Southern University, took place Feb. 8 to 11.
The students, along with Kemper and Wahl-Temple, will be attending the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. the week of April 18, 2017.
To see a full listing of the awards, click here.
