UWSP Students Honored at Annual College Theater Festival

For the Metro Wire

Students of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Theatre and Dance Department were honored for their talents in musical theatre, acting and playwriting at the regional 2018 Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival in Indianapolis, Ind., last week.

Khaila Wilcoxon, Kenosha, a musical theatre major, won the Irene Ryan Acting Selector’s Award for Musical Theatre for her performance of “Random Black Woman.” Dakotah Brown, Blaine, Minn., an acting major, won the Irene Ryan Acting Award for Best Partner.

Emma Kiel, Neenah, a theatre major, won the Ten Minute Play Director’s Award for her direction of the play “Fatberg.” Sophie McIntosh, Sun Prairie, a theatre major, saw her play, “Imprints,” rehearsed and performed as one of six short plays chosen from 118 submissions from colleges in five states.

“Student Body,” a drama performed last fall and directed by Theatre Professor Steve Trovillion Smith, was one of seven chosen from the region for three performances at the festival. It was well received by attendees and festival administrators, he said. “Their comments included ‘The play had so much to say’ and ‘This is what theatre should be.’”

Nearly 20 students from UW-Stevens Point traveled to the festival, attending workshops and masterclasses, performing and seeing performances from other universities.

“This is an opportunity the students will never forget,” Smith said. “They bring back these skills and experiences to share with classmates and audiences in Stevens Point. It also raises the profile of the university regionally and nationally.”

UW-Stevens Point’s Department of Theatre and Dance has attended the festival regularly over the past three decades. The program has been chosen to perform numerous shows there, including 2012’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” which took second place in the country as a “Distinguished Production of a Modern Classic.”

Numerous students have won awards.