All the world’s a stage.
Theatre students from Texas A&M University-Kingsville were recognized for their performance of June Bugs at The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
The production is an original screenplay written by Corey Ranson, associate professor and director of theatre activities.
June Bugs tells the story of five homeless people whose main focus is their next fix. The characters live in the streets out of either necessity or choice, and there is no promise of a tomorrow. They laugh, fight and help each other out. They are the June Bugs. At ACTF the play was deemed the Respondent’s Choice Award, the top play overall.
More than 10 awards were awarded for the June Bugs production: Respondent’s Choice Award – June Bugs, Excellence in Playwriting Award – TAMUK Theatre, Support of New Works Award – TAMUK Theatre, Excellence in Lighting Design – Diane Ibarra, Excellence in Sound and Music – Dario Coronado, Excellence in Sound and Music – Jesse Ochoa, Excellence in Sound and Music – Edgar Vasquez, Excellence in Sound and Music – Ben Ortiz, Excellence in Sound and Music – Gage Roberts, Irene Ryan Acting Nomination Award – Alessandra Ramirez, Irene Ryan Acting Nomination Award – Laurie Guajardo, Irene Ryan Acting Nomination Award – Robin Machuca. Niko Villarreal and Dylan Mendoza also received Irene Ryan nominations for Alpha Psi Omega’s production of The Aliens bringing TAMUK acting awards, this fall, to five.
Irene Ryan Acting Nominations allows the theatre students to advance to the state festival next year for a chance to win an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship.
“We are proud of the students, we really only had four real weeks of rehearsal and they did well. It is a brand new play and they handled it well. We will find out in December if the show gets to tour. Out of the six productions presented and the six-state region, TAMUK’s play June Bugs is in consideration to be invited to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival – Region Festival in Abilene at the end of February.
“So, the play may get a chance to tour to perform which would put the play and TAMUK talent in a Regional spotlight of the Region Six state area and universities and colleges therein.
“This also means that the students with awards for acting will be required to attend the regional festival. All five actors must find scene partners and get to work on an audition to present to KCACTF judges who, out of 300 students, will decide if they can reach the goal of getting to the National KCACTF Festival at the Kennedy Center in D.C.,” Ranson said.
The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship provides recognition, honor and financial assistance to outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education. The Irene Ryan Foundation awards 16 regional and two national scholarships annually.
“The experience is always wonderful for me. I first went to the ACTF festival last year and I received an Irene Ryan last year as well. I advanced on to the spring competition last year but I didn’t make it past preliminaries. I sat in and watched the finals round last year to see what the judges were looking for, and this year I am coming in more excited, more honored to get the award, but really anxious to see how far I can take it this spring,” Guajardo said.
This year’s competition took place in Carthage, Texas, at Panola College. The students left on Tuesday, performed their production on Friday and arrived back in Kingsville on Saturday. Many of the students were surprised and humbled by their results.
“Winning an award for Sound & Music was unexpected. It was truly an honor to be a part of this whole experience. The five days we spent in Carthage, Texas, were nothing short of magical. The nature around there is gorgeous! The competition was a breath of fresh air as we had the privilege of observing some of the most talented actors, directors, and playwrights in their element,” Ochoa said.