The Northeast State Department of Theatre’s Spring notched another milestone with national recognition for a production that pushed the creative vision of faculty and students.
The department’s production of Wiley and the Hairy Man earned 12 national commendation awards for crew, cast, and faculty members from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). Faculty and students applied their talents while learning a few new ones to tell the story of a boy, his dog, and a scary swamp monster.
“I’m really grateful and blessed that so many people have continued to be involved with theatre as we have tried to navigate through COVID-19 era,” said Brad McKenzie, assistant professor and director of the Theatre Department. “This is a one hundred percent payoff for all the work that went into it.”
These Wiley cast and crew members won national commendations for their work in the following categories:
Steven Hathaway – Sound Design
Cheyenne King – Costume Design
Matthew Parvin – Stage Management
Shelby Ashley – Lighting Design
Gavin Mann – Character Design (Props)
Emily Proffitt – Acting Performance
Braiden Smith – Acting Performance
McKenzie won two awards as Director and Technical Director for the production. Northeast State adjunct instructor and theatre scene shop manager Richard Curtis also won two awards for his work in the categories of Scene Design and Character Design.
Wiley looks like no other Northeast State Theatre production. The dreaded COVID-19 limited live performances and forced stage professionals to think inside the box. Specifically, the letterbox of video needed fit all the moving parts of a stage production into a streaming presentation.
The entire production company won commendations for Puppeteering Ensemble and Distinguished Achievement award for creating the play “in difficult and successful COVID times pivot” as defined by the festival committee.
Adapted in the “paper theatre” format, Wiley came to life with a combination of puppetry, sets, and videography. Paper theatre refers to a tradition type of theatre performance using paper cutout characters and stage elements. Depending on the ambition of the creators, those elements are deployed into stage productions from simple one-act plays to Shakespeare.
“This is the highest achievement any college theatre department can achieve, whether two-year or four-year program,” said Elizabeth McKnight, dean of Humanities at Northeast State. “It was a perfect venue for Brad’s creativity; I’m beyond proud.”
Former director of Northeast State Theatre, McKnight mentioned the paper theatre concept to McKenzie as an option during COVID-19. The idea took root. McKenzie’s philosophy of “go big or go home” meant large scale production of puppets, set, and sounds.
The new format required a series of permissions from the publishing company and the author to record and release the play. Additional permission was required to live stream the play during the week of the regional festival.
The students and instructors constructed performance booths on stage allowing actors to record their audio safely while getting their feet back on stage. Rehearsals were a mix of Zoom meetings and socially distant mask read throughs. The production was livestreamed on set performance dates during the Spring 2021 semester.
The production’s unique format first raised eyebrows at KCACTF Region IV competition in early 2022. A panel of judges initially reviewed Wiley during the festival in February. Wiley earned 10 student and faculty nominations from the KCACTF Region IV competition. Those nominations led to six regional award wins for students and faculty members. The production went on to win the national Special Achievement in Production and Performance Ensemble Unity award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during an awards ceremony held in May. Northeast State was the only two-year institution in Region IV to receive a national award in theatre arts for 2022.
A college theatre department registers with the regional festival to submit a production for review. The department may file the play as an “associate production” and “participating production.” When a department files their work as a participating production, two festival proctors judge the play. Their reviews determine whether the play advances to be performed live at the regional festival.
“Since Wiley was streamed, we thought it would be fun experiment by submitting it as a participating production,” said McKenzie.
That decision to file as a participating production launched the show into consideration for national recognition by the Kennedy Center. Those proctors made Wiley one of six productions to be performed at the regional festival. A proctor representing the national festival viewed and performance at the regional. impressed judges. The play was selected to be performed at the national festival.
In a show of many firsts, the production featured a primary cast and understudy cast. The actors manipulated the character puppets on a stage built specifically for the production. The puppet characters used multiple emotional expressions during the play. The characters required seamless design of shape, costume, and color for each scene. After cast and crew finished their work, McKenzie spent hours stitching together video footage of the production.
“A lot of growth and learning happened that you really can’t get without doing the work,” said McKenzie. “We wanted to give opportunities to as many people as possible.”
Live performance events ground to a halt in the age of COVID-19. Social distancing stifled mass gatherings for more than two years. McKenzie noted that much to his chagrin a handful of theatre students graduated without having taken part in a production on the stage.
A Northeast State alumnus, Curtis won multiple awards for set and scene design while a student. The College welcomed his return as a faculty member and top-tier design mind.
The KCACTF covers eight regions across the United States and its territories. Region 4 encompasses two-year and four-year institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The region holds an annual festival the first week in February.
Northeast State Theatre returned to stage performances in the Wellmont Regional Center for the Performing Arts Theatre in 2022. The on-stage productions of Alice in Wonderland and The Mousetrap brought students and audiences back to live theatre life. The future looks bright as the department continues to push the boundaries of theatre.
“Northeast State Theatre is going strong, and maybe even stronger than ever,” said McKenzie. “I’m humbled and grateful to all the audience and community support that our theatre has received.”
The Kennedy Center award commendations can be view here: Wiley and the Hairy Man.
Original source can be found here
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