The Northeast State Department of Theatre added a national award to an already impressive trophy case.
The Theater Department’s 2021 production of Wiley and the Hairy Man earned the Special Achievement in Production and Performance Ensemble Unity award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The award was presented during the Kennedy Center national awards ceremony held in May.
“I am very proud of the students in our department,” said Brad McKenzie, technical director of Northeast State Theatre and director of Wiley. “Their work is top tier.”
The production of Wiley and the Hairy Man earned the Special Achievement in Production and Performance Ensemble Unity. Northeast State is the only two-year institution in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region IV to receive a national award in theatre arts from the Kennedy Center this year. The department of Theater at Clemson University earned the award for their production of I and You.
The play focused on young Wiley dealing with adolescence and the terrors of Tombigbee Swamp. In an exciting duel of wits, Wiley learns to rely upon his own resources and conquers two villains: the Hairy Man and his own fear.
A college or university theatre department registers its performed plays as associate productions with the Region IV administration. The registration invites a proctor to adjudicate the performance in an array of performance categories. An institution registers a production under the associate production category for proctors to judge individual skills and overall production.
As COVID-19 swept across the globe, gathering spaces were empty. Traditional gathering events – including live theater – moved to a virtual format in the wake of the pandemic. Since Wiley became a theatre production captured via video, the department team opted to submit the play for consideration as a participation production to KCACTF Region IV.
Northeast State Theatre submitted Wiley in the participation production category giving two proctors notice to judge the play. That submission opened the door for consideration to the national Kennedy Center recognition. The KCACTF Region IV represents two- and four-year institutions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The production stretched the limits for faculty and students. All the elements of a stage production were included. The next layer of videography and recording the characters’ dialogue to match
“It is a massive undertaking to on a play but inside a movie,” said McKenzie. “Everyone myself included had to push their creative abilities which proved to be an excellent way to expand our skills.”
The play earned number of KCACTF Region IV nominations in the associate production category. Students earning individual nominations to the festival for Wiley are: Steven Hathaway – Student Sound Design; Cheyenne King – Student Costume Design; Matthew Parvin – Student Stage Management; Hannah Price – Student Music Director; Gavin Mann – Allied Design (Props); SarahGrace Triplett – Irene Ryan Scholarship (Performance); Jillian Cox – Irene Ryan Scholarship (Performance); and Emily Proffitt – Irene Ryan Scholarship (Performance).
“This incredible honor recognizes the creativity and learning opportunities found in the Theatre Department,” said Elizabeth Sloan, longtime director of Northeast State Theatre and recently named dean of the College’s Humanities Division. “We are so proud of the legacy of excellence our students strive to meet every year.”
While being captured much like a film, the production included all stage play elements. Sound design incorporated the background music, footsteps, and simple character movements. The lighting design team gave the swamp and Wiley’s home their distinctive visual looks. Northeast State alumnus Richard Curtis designed the swamp animals that appear inhabit the swamp near Wiley’s home. Curtis recently earned his master’s degree from Regent University.
A combination of learning and production techniques brought Wiley to life.
Students collaborated with instructors to create a vision for the characters. Once their visions for the costumes and characters jelled, the character foam frame was heat-formed and cut out. The characters’ foam design goes through a heat-forming process to solidify the product.
“That is very telling about to the collaborative style of our theatre,” said McKenzie. “That honors the production and the ensemble as a whole.”
Actors recorded their parts in COVID-safe individual sound booths built on the WRCPA Theatre stage. Students performed the puppetry work under rigorous conditions of social distancing.
The actors manipulated the character puppets on a stage built specifically for the production… The puppet characters use multiple emotional expressions during the play. The characters required seamless design of shape, costume, and color for each scene. After cast and crew finished their work, McKenzie spent hours stitching together video footage of the production. The characters’ dialogue matched up to the video production and puppetry action.
The national honor brings McKenzie full circle at Northeast State. He enrolled as a student at Northeast State to pursue theatre as a major. He portrayed the character of Mr. Webb in Our Town, the department’s first ever stage production. The national award amplifies the spotlight on the well-respected Northeast State Theatre Department’s faculty, students, and alumni.
“I was a student here in the first production this department ever did and now have a leadership position in this department,” said McKenzie. “That we have now won the highest performance recognition a community college can win in academic theatre competition is a special moment.”
The Northeast State Department of Theatre added a national award to an already impressive trophy case.
The Theater Department’s 2021 production of Wiley and the Hairy Man earned the Special Achievement in Production and Performance Ensemble Unity award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The award was presented during the Kennedy Center national awards ceremony held in May.
“I am very proud of the students in our department,” said Brad McKenzie, technical director of Northeast State Theatre and director of Wiley. “Their work is top tier.”
The production of Wiley and the Hairy Man earned the Special Achievement in Production and Performance Ensemble Unity. Northeast State is the only two-year institution in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region IV to receive a national award in theatre arts from the Kennedy Center this year. The department of Theater at Clemson University earned the award for their production of I and You.
The play focused on young Wiley dealing with adolescence and the terrors of Tombigbee Swamp. In an exciting duel of wits, Wiley learns to rely upon his own resources and conquers two villains: the Hairy Man and his own fear.
A college or university theatre department registers its performed plays as associate productions with the Region IV administration. The registration invites a proctor to adjudicate the performance in an array of performance categories. An institution registers a production under the associate production category for proctors to judge individual skills and overall production.
As COVID-19 swept across the globe, gathering spaces were empty. Traditional gathering events – including live theater – moved to a virtual format in the wake of the pandemic. Since Wiley became a theatre production captured via video, the department team opted to submit the play for consideration as a participation production to KCACTF Region IV.
Northeast State Theatre submitted Wiley in the participation production category giving two proctors notice to judge the play. That submission opened the door for consideration to the national Kennedy Center recognition. The KCACTF Region IV represents two- and four-year institutions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The production stretched the limits for faculty and students. All the elements of a stage production were included. The next layer of videography and recording the characters’ dialogue to match
“It is a massive undertaking to on a play but inside a movie,” said McKenzie. “Everyone myself included had to push their creative abilities which proved to be an excellent way to expand our skills.”
The play earned number of KCACTF Region IV nominations in the associate production category. Students earning individual nominations to the festival for Wiley are: Steven Hathaway – Student Sound Design; Cheyenne King – Student Costume Design; Matthew Parvin – Student Stage Management; Hannah Price – Student Music Director; Gavin Mann – Allied Design (Props); SarahGrace Triplett – Irene Ryan Scholarship (Performance); Jillian Cox – Irene Ryan Scholarship (Performance); and Emily Proffitt – Irene Ryan Scholarship (Performance).
“This incredible honor recognizes the creativity and learning opportunities found in the Theatre Department,” said Elizabeth Sloan, longtime director of Northeast State Theatre and recently named dean of the College’s Humanities Division. “We are so proud of the legacy of excellence our students strive to meet every year.”
While being captured much like a film, the production included all stage play elements. Sound design incorporated the background music, footsteps, and simple character movements. The lighting design team gave the swamp and Wiley’s home their distinctive visual looks. Northeast State alumnus Richard Curtis designed the swamp animals that appear inhabit the swamp near Wiley’s home. Curtis recently earned his master’s degree from Regent University.
Students collaborated with instructors to create a vision for the characters. Once their visions for the costumes and characters jelled, the character foam frame was heat-formed and cut out. The characters’ foam design goes through a heat-forming process to solidify the product.
“That is very telling about to the collaborative style of our theatre,” said McKenzie. “That honors the production and the ensemble as a whole.”
Actors recorded their parts in COVID-safe individual sound booths built on the WRCPA Theatre stage. Students performed the puppetry work under rigorous conditions of social distancing.
The actors manipulated the character puppets on a stage built specifically for the production… The puppet characters use multiple emotional expressions during the play. The characters required seamless design of shape, costume, and color for each scene. After cast and crew finished their work, McKenzie spent hours stitching together video footage of the production. The characters’ dialogue matched up to the video production and puppetry action.
The national honor brings McKenzie full circle at Northeast State. He enrolled as a student at Northeast State to pursue theatre as a major. He portrayed the character of Mr. Webb in Our Town, the department’s first ever stage production. The national award amplifies the spotlight on the well-respected Northeast State Theatre Department’s faculty, students, and alumni.
“I was a student here in the first production this department ever did and now have a leadership position in this department,” said McKenzie. “That we have now won the highest performance recognition a community college can win in academic theatre competition is a special moment.”
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