VCU theater students win at South Eastern Theatre Conference

Willa Piro
Contributing Writer

Theatre VCU won at the Southeastern Theatre Conference with a clean sweep for the undergraduate costume design.

Gloria Kim won first place for Tosca, Jocelyn Bowman won second place for The Threepenny Opera, and Sophia Yoo won third place for The Mystery of Irma Vep.

The conference is a nationwide gathering of theater students and professionals, with both competitions and workshops for the attendees to improve their skills. Raven Wilkes, a sophomore in theatre performance, said she found the workshops to be a great way to network.

“I got to network that way as well, get to know different people from different theater companies … it’s a good way to show your face and get your name out there,” Wilkes said. This was Wilkes’ first year at SETC.

SETC also has competitions for costume design, costume crafts design, lighting design, properties design and construction, scenic design and sounds design both for graduate and undergraduate students.

For costume design, the students presented their renderings of their design and their design books that includes concept, research and budget information necessary to actualize the design. Scenic and lighting design competitors likewise have models of their design, while costume crafts bring the actualized garment they have designed.

“That was memorable … all three of us were really surprised and happy,” Yoo said. “I was not actually expecting it.”

In costume, crafts design senior Matt Armentrout won second place for his tailored 1950s suit. Two Theatre VCU students also placed in undergraduate scenic design, Kristin Kifer in first place and Ben Burke in second place, giving Theatre VCU students in the audience much to cheer about.

Graduate student Isabela Tavares placed second in graduate costume design for her design of Sweeney Todd, a design that will be used by Theatre VCU in late March. This was Tavares’ first year at SETC and first time competing.

“It was really interesting to see what other people were doing at other schools,” Tavares said. “It was a good experience.”

Every year in March more than 4,000 theater professionals, students, and enthusiasts come together for the nation’s largest theater convention at SETC.

This year Louisville, Ky. was the host of the convention that attracts working professionals, as well as university, high school and community theater programs. Performance, design and technical students from Theatre VCU were among the attendees.

SETC is a five-day convention where people involved in theater can come together to celebrate their craft. During the festival actors audition for professional companies and go on call-backs, while design and technical professionals can participate in the job contact fair that gives them easy access to more than 100 companies looking to hire.

The conference also has more than 300 workshops and talks that convention goers can attend throughout the five days. The workshops and talks cover a variety of subjects from hat-making to clowning.

Tavares also found the keynote speakers to be a highlight of her SETC experience. The design keynote speakers included Leslie Yarmo (costume), Todd Rosenthal (scenic) and Michael Lincoln (lighting). For Tavares, Yarmo’s talk was particularly special.

“Her talk was very inspirational and enlightening and it lead to a really good discussion of things that I think especially graduate students need to know,” Tavares said.