Ridgewater College theatre students – on and off the stage – earned three recognition awards recently at the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). College students and faculty from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota participated.
The goal of KCACTF is to celebrate and recognize the achievements of college theatre across the region. This week-long festival provides students and faculty the chance to attend workshops, see plays performed by other colleges in the region, and compete in everything from acting and directing to sound design and promotion.
The Ridgewater cast earned two group awards for their 2023 production of “Dearly Departed,” written by David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones: Achievement in Ensemble Performance, and Ensemble Dialect Work. Recognized cast members included Averi Linn of Spicer; Christopher DeLong and Gavin Johnson, New London; Acacia Banken, Hayden Saulsbury, Joel Bothun, and Tannisha Runia of Willmar; Kylee Dickmann, Sauk Centre; Javin Lucas, Raymond; Lily DeVries, Hutchinson; Nathan Saulsbury, Kensington; and Tallie Prekker, Clara City.
“It was great that everyone in the cast was willing to work and learn with each other,” said Averi Linn.
“Keeping the accents for the whole show was a challenge, but it was a fun one!” Nathan Saulsbury added.
Justin Banken of Willmar received an individual theater crew award for Achievement in Sound Design, for his work in the 2024 Ridgewater production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
“The students should be extremely proud for what they did and for getting the nominations,” Hegdahl said.