February 20, 2009

Dustin Canez. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Five students in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Theatre were honored for their work at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) regional competition Feb. 3-8, in Greensboro, N.C. One student, Dustin Cañez, will travel to Washington, D.C., in April for the national competition, all expenses paid.

Cañez won the regional competition for the KCACTF Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC) Student Directing Fellowship Award. As the regional winner, Cañez will compete at the national festival April 13-19 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where he will participate in workshops and have the opportunity to win a summer internship at a professional theater as a director. At the national festival, Cañez will direct a short play by one of the winning student playwrights from a regional KCACTF festival. 

Sarah Hereford of Huntsville won the KCACTF Region IV Irene Ryan Competition Comedy Acting Award for performing a comedic scene.

Jordan Bohl of Athens and Kendra Peine of Birmingham were named finalists in the KCACTF Region IV David Weiss Design Competition. Hereford and Emilie Soffe of Enterprise were named finalists in the KCACTF Region IV Irene Ryan Acting Competition.

The KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition with awards and scholarships. Through state, regional and national festivals, KCACTF participants celebrate the creative process, see one another's work and share experiences and insights within the community of theater artists. The KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing and design.