APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University’s recent production of “Blood Wedding” drew accolades from the American College Theatre Festival for the cast, production staff, musicians and director.
Juniors Brune Macary, Lyon, France, and Cara Wantland, McAllen, Texas, earned invitations to the 2009 Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition for their individual performances, while the ACTF issued Certificates of Merit for the ensemble, the music design, and the production’s director, Annette Thornton.
Macary and Wantland will vie for a $500 scholarship in the Ryan competition next January in Saginaw, Mich., at the ACTF’s five-state regional competition. Winners at the eight regional competitions advance to the national auditions at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in April, 2009.
In Lawrence’s production of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s tale of love, passion and betrayal, Macary played the role of the wedding bride, an unhappy young woman tormented by the presence of a former lover on the night of her arranged marriage. Wantland portrayed Death, an eerie and morbid personification of the force that drives two men to their ends.
In awarding an ensemble (cast and production staff) certificate of merit, Roger Held, chair of the theatre department at Michigan Tech University and an ACTF respondent, wrote “the movement of actors whether in a scene or executing a scene shift was perfect, effortless and economical. They created a mental realm and moment-to-moment focus that kept the audience transfixed.”
In his certificate for music design, Held cited the 10 student musicians for providing “a unified musical voice that, with so many participants, could easily have degenerated into chaos. The collaborative and unselfish efforts of these students is remarkable and gave a special and unique quality to the performance.”
Held praised Thornton as “the epitome of a theatrical director, one who gives direction to the arts and crafts of others while making their personal contribution almost invisible” in his certificate of merit for direction.
Founded in 1969, the ACTF recognizes the finest and most exciting work produced in college theatre programs and provides opportunities for participants to develop their theatre skills. Conducted since 1972, the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship was established in the will of the late actress, best known for her role as the lovable and feisty Granny Clampett on the TV hit show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
