The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region IV has recognized Hollins graduate and undergraduate students for their creativity, both on the stage and behind the scenes. 

Works by three student playwrights from the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins were chosen for the KCACTF Region IV Festival, which was held online in February. Mothers and Terrorists by David Beach M.F.A. ’21, which received the 2021 KCACTF Region IV John L. Cauble One-Act Play honor, was staged this year with a full virtual production. Sarah Cosgrove’s M.F.A. ’22 I Lived to Tell, a Cauble recipient for 2022, and Cherished by Rachel Graf Evans, winner of the KCACTF Region IV’s 2022 David Shelton Award (the region’s highest award for full-length, student-written plays) were also performed. 

Playwright’s Lab Director Todd Ristau said the selection of the three plays for this year’s festival “continues Hollins’ unbroken string of successes with KCACTF Region IV. Over the years, our student playwrights have garnered awards in nearly every category of playwriting at KCACTF.” 

KCACTF Region IV also honored two Hollins seniors with prestigious awards in its Design, Technologies, and Management category.  

Elizabeth Dion ’22 received the Stage Management Fellowship Award, while Nabila Meghjani ’22 won the Heart of the Art Award in Costume Design. Both were honored for their work on Hollins Theatre’s Main Stage production in October 2021 of Caryl Churchill’s The Skriker. 

“According to the nominee list, 168 students in Region IV were nominated for the Stage Management Fellowship Award, and 71 were nominated for the Heart of the Art Award in Costume Design, so we’re extremely proud of both Liz and Nabila for their recognition,” said Assistant Professor of Theatre and Theatre Department Chair Wendy-Marie Martin M.F.A. ’14.