Students win awards at American College Theater Festival

Thirty-five Western Washington University theater students and its improv troupe, The Dead Parrots Society, participated and 14 students won awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival on Feb. 18-23 in Sacramento, Calif.

The festival is part of a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities and has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. Participating Western students competed against students from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, northern California and northern Nevada.

The winners from Western are:

• Sammy Scott (Mercer Island) – Winner Critics/Dramaturgy
• Mario Orallo (Lake Forest Park) – First Alternate Directing
• Gavin Foltz (Everett) – 10-minute Play Selected for possible National Selection
• Lyssandra Norton (Edmonds) – Full-length play is a candidate for David Mark Cohen National Award
• Hannah Bochart (Haines, Alaska) – Full-length play is a candidate for National Partners of American Theatre
• Kyle Mitchel (Bothell) – First Alternate Irene Ryans and Mark Twain Comedy Award
• Fred Tse (Auburn) – Full scholarship for Colorado State University summer programs in Stage Combat
• Marin Johnson (Woodinville) – Northwest Drama Conference Undergrad Scholarly Paper winner
• Dead Parrots Society (Zach Wymore, Spokane; Mario Orallo; Elizabeth Andrews, Richland) – Outstanding Improvisational Troupe

Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Finalists:

• Francesca Betancourt (Tuscon, Ariz.) and Zach Wymore
• Jordan Watson (Ferndale) and Sam Turner (Buckley)
• Kyle Mitchel and Zach Wymore
• For more information about the festival, contact Rich Brown, associate professor of Theater arts at (360) 650-7320 or at rich.brown@wwu.edu .