Boise State theater arts students honored at regional festival

The festival features theater arts students from universities in nine states.
The festival features theater arts students from universities in nine states. | File photo

A group of Boise State University theater arts majors recently received formal recognition at various competitions that took place at the Region VII Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) in Denver.

The regional festival, which happened the week of Feb. 15, is comprised of theater departments at universities in nine states.

Two Boise State theater arts majors earned first place at the Technical Theatre Olympics. One was Brian Telestai, a senior, who assembled a sound system in record time. The other was Brandon Washington, a sophomore, who hung, focused and circuited lighting instruments in record time.

Another senior, Tom Davis, won “meritorious distinction” from the Institute for Theatre Journalism and Advocacy for his written critiques of the festival and its productions. He wrote these each night after each production.

Senior Caitlin Susen earned a distinction in the student lighting design competition at the festival. This distinction gave her an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to the national KCACTF. While there, she will attend weeklong workshops for lighting design, where she will learn from Tony Award-winning designers.

Dayna Smith, another senior, was selected with five other student playwrights to join the first national Undergraduate Playwright’s Workshop. The Kennedy Center sponsors this workshop, where students receive housing and transportation over the summer while they work on their original plays with professional actors. The workshop ends with a public reading.