News

(Left to right) Mary Seigel '20, Christine Barecca '20, Ella Spoelstra '20, Anna Brown '21, Rosey Robinson '22, Emma Swain '20, Giovanni Bahena '20, Elizabeth Henry '20, Professor Neil Scharnick, and Cam Tucker '21Carthage was well represented at the annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) held earlier this month in Madison, Wis. Several theatre and music theatre students participated and placed in the competition — held at Madison College Jan. 7 through 12 — in which thousands of graduate and undergraduate students from across the country competed.

The competitions are divided into eight regions throughout the country. Carthage students participated in the Region III competition along with colleges in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

John Cauble Short Play Award

Emma Swain ’20 was selected as a finalist for the John Cauble Short Play Award for her one-act play “Wire Taps.” The play is a rich, complex, coming-out story of sorts. It’s presented entirely through phone calls, voicemails, and text messages; and is also completely non-binary, so gendered pronouns like he/she don’t appear in it. All of its stories intertwine to explore the ways in which we communicate and the ways that this communication is entangled by the wires of our lives.

Ella Spoelstra ’20Performance and Design

• Music Theatre Intensive Finalist
  Christine Barreca ’20 
• Costume Design Paper Project Finalist
  Mary Seigel ’20
• Costume Design – Realized Project Finalist
  Latora Lezotte ’20
• Stage Management Finalist
  Emerson Stenbeck ’20
• Dramaturgy Finalist
  Ella Spoelstra ’20
• Irene Ryan Semifinalists
  Anna Brown ’21, Partner Caitlin Pruess ’23 

Certificates of Merit

The Carthage Theatre Department earned certificates of merit for the following plays:

• “Marie Antoinette”
  Lindsey O’Connor ’20, Sound Design
  Veronica Vickas ’19, Costume Design
• “Flora the Red Menace”
  Acting Ensemble
  Tiantian Dong (graduate student), Choreography
• “A Doll’s House, Part II”
  Latora Lezotte ’20, Costume Design
  Ella Spoelstra ’20, Dramaturgy
  Professor Martin McClendon, Scenic Design
  Jane Srnick (Carthage staff), Master Carpenter

Celebration of Associate Productions: Night of Scenes and Costume Parade

Carthage was one of four schools in the region selected to participate in the Night of Scenes, in which students performed portions of “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” and was one of six schools in the region selected to participate in the Costume Parade, in which the cast of “Marie Antoinette” walked the runway to determine the region’s best costumes. 

(Left to right dressed for "Marie Antionette") Mary Seigel '20, Lydia Haasl '20, and Fae Rose Kobernik '20 Night of Scenes 
Performance of: “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
Directed by: Professor Herschel Kruger
Costume Designs: Latora Lezotte ’20
Sound Design: Joe Hansen ’20
Nora: Lydia Haasl ’20
Torvald: Giovanni Bahena ’20
Emee: Ella Spoelstra ’20

Costume Parade 
Costumes from the play: “Marie Antoinette” 
Featured Costume Designs by: Veronica Vickas ’19
Marie: Lydia Haasl ’20
Yolande: Fae Kobernik ’20
Therese: Mary Seigel ’20
The Sheep: Christine Barecca ’20

All students who qualified as finalists will move on to participate in the National Festival on April 6 through 10 at the John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Good luck and congratulations!