FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 21, 2002
CONTACT: Roland Ruiz, St. Philip's College Director of Community and Public Relations
210.531.4851

ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE DRAMA 'A MACBETH' EARNS STATE HONORS; ADVANCES TO REGIONAL LEVEL

For the first time in its history, a St. Philip's College Department of Fine Arts stage production has been honored by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The production 'A Macbeth,' as adapted from Shakespeare by Guy Roberts, earned a number of awards at the KCACTF state festival held in Beaumont recently and was nominated to advance to the regional festival next February.

'A Macbeth' was presented awards for: Respondent's (Judge's) Choice, Best Production Concept, Best Direction (Charles Jeffries), Best Lighting Design (William J. Stewart), Best Execution of Fight Choreography (Aaron Reindeikis and Casey O'Bryant) and Best Combat Direction (Phil Raybourn). In addition, the Irene Ryan Acting nomination was given to three St. Philip's College students: Lydia Carson, Jeremiah Maldonado, and Aaron Rindeikis.

"This is a significant milestone in the continuing development of our drama program," said Dr. Elizabeth C. Ramirez, St. Philip's College director of Fine Arts. "To have your work recognized by an entity such as the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival underscores the high level of talent and commitment to quality that exists among our Fine Arts faculty, staff and students."

St. Philip's College will now take its production of 'A Macbeth' to the KCACTF Regional Festival to be held Feb. 25 - March 1, 2003, at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth. There, seven schools from a region that includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas will perform their productions and try to earn an invitation to the KCACTF National Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

St. Philip's College was one of several schools from throughout the state that participated in the prestigious KCACTF festival. Others included Sam Houston University, Lamar University, the University of Texas at Tyler, Lon Morris College, Kingwood College and Lee College. In January and February of each year, regional KCACTF festivals showcase the finest of each region's entered productions and offer a variety of activities, including workshops, symposia, and regional-level award programs. Four to six of the best and most diverse regional festival productions are then selected for showcase in the spring at the annual noncompetitive national festival at the Kennedy Center, all expenses paid.

The KCACTF is a year-round program in eight geographic regions in the United States. 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.

Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center's founding chairman, the KCACTF is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide that has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents.

St. Philip's College, one of the Alamo Community Colleges serving the greater Bexar County region, is a comprehensive community college designated as both a Historically Black College and a Hispanic Serving Institution. St. Philip's College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.