Centenary Play Wins Director's Choice Award at Louisiana College Theatre Festival

SHREVEPORT, LA —Centenary College's The Beauty Queen of Leenane has been selected by the judges of the Louisiana College Theatre Festival to be in consideration for presentation at the Region VI festival to be held in Fayetteville, Ark., during the last week in February.

Dillard University's Zooman and the Sign also was tapped for consideration by winning the Respondent's Choice Award. The Centenary play, an Irish drama involving a demanding mother and her spinster daughter, won the Director's Choice Award.

The annual state festival, held at Centenary's Marjorie Lyons Playhouse, ended Oct. 11. It included productions from the University of New Orleans, McNeese State University, Dillard, Loyola University and Centenary. More than 120 students and faculty attended.

Two adjudicators, Jeff Koep from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and D. Andrew Gibbs from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, responded to all productions.

If The Beauty Queen of Leenane is selected at Region VI, it will then travel to Washington, D.C., for performance at the Kennedy Center.

Besides being a winning choice, The Beauty Queen of Leenane also was cited for assistant director/stage manager (Ashley Beckham); vocal coaching (Jodie Glorioso); lighting design (Don Hooper); set design (Don Hooper), sound design (Patric McWilliams); and costume design (Patric McWilliams). Three student actors - Joshua Porter, Anysia Manthos and Phillip Brooks - won Irene Ryan Awards for acting.

Centenary will be informed after Dec. 1 if The Beauty Queen of Leenane is selected for regional presentation. The presentations for the regional festival are selected from the Director's Choice Award and the Respondent's Choice Award by the 12 members of the Region VI committee. The final selection is made from the winners from one festival in Louisiana, one festival in Arkansas, two festivals in Oklahoma and three festivals in Texas.

Robert Buseick, chairman of the Centenary drama and speech department, said there are usually six to eight productions selected for the various regional festivals. The regional festivals are attended by a panel of three judges, who will view and consider a group of plays for the national convention in April at the Kennedy Center.

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