During the recent Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), John Findley and Brittany Hackett both won awards.
Findley and Hackett are both Sinclair Community College students. Findley received “honorable mention” in the national category of sound design excellence for his work on Dog Sees God and Hackett won “top honors” in the regional category for her costume designs in Threepenny Opera, according to Patti Celek, marketing director for the Theatre Department.
Findley said, via e-mail, that he was proud of the work he did.
“I was very pleased with my award,” Findley said. “As a student designer from a two-year college, I competed against other student designs from four-year programs as well as graduate programs.”
Hackett said she feels she earned her award because of the complex designs she used. Plus, the play she created the designs for gave her ideas.
“[The play] is a rather old story about man’s struggle to survive in an impoverished
world ruled by the wealthy,” Hackett said via e-mail. “The story seemed so relevant to people today, that I wanted to create a modern, but exaggerated world for the play.”
In the end, Hackett designed a “rust belt” like theme for the play.
Both winners said they were nervous during the presentations. Hackett said she was just hoping to remember everything she needed to say.
Findley said he was worried about speaking to professionals.
“The idea of presenting my work to highly seasoned professional in the theatrical design community was unsettling,” Findley said. ” I was worried. What if they didn’t understand my design ideas, or I wasn’t able to communicate those ideas very well?”
Celek said the program is dedicated to KCACTF because it helps the students improve.
“Sinclair Theatre’s commitment to KCACTF is another aspect of student learning opportunities,” Celek said. “In one short week at this annual event, students see 6 to 10 productions, attend workshops and master classes offered by working professionals, compete against students from two-year, four-year and graduate programs in performance and technology areas, plus they can audition or interview for theatre internships.”