National design award within reach of UF Theatre student

March 12, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the third year in a row, a University of Florida graduate student in the College of Fine Arts will compete for a national title in stage design at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

With his design for the performance “Waiting for Godot,” Glen Anderson, a master of Fine Arts in Scenic Design candidate student in the School of Theatre and Dance, won the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Region IV competition in Americus, Ga., and will progress to the finals in Washington, D.C., April 15-22.

This marks the third year in a row the UF scene designer has been chosen for the Kennedy Center competition and national showcase. Anderson will represent the College of Fine Arts and his hometown of Atchison, Kan., at the big event.

KCACTF is a national theater program that gives students from colleges and universities across the country the opportunity to showcase their talents in performance, design, playwriting and directing. The aim of KCACTF is to encourage students in the pursuit of developing artistic skills.

The School of Theatre and Dance at the College of Fine Arts had a number of students nominated for acting and design awards in 2006. The group spent Feb. 6-11 in Americus.

The UF College of Fine Arts also won the KCACTF Certificate of Merit for Collaboration in Design award for its production of “Waiting for Godot.” Additionally, D.K. Shaffer won the David Weiss Costume Design Award for “Mother Courage,” Darrin J. Pufall received second place for the Barbizon Costume Design Award for “Waiting for Godot” and Charles Perry received second place for the Barbizon Lighting Award for “The Exonerated.” Christina Watanabe also received third place for the Barbizon Lighting Design for “Waiting for Godot.”

In the acting division, competing for the Irene Ryan award, Matthew Lindsay and partner, Christopher Wert, and Marcus Thomas and partner, Candice Alexis Newsum, competed in the final round. Marty Austin Lamar and his partner, Joey Hunt, competed in the semifinal round.