Northwestern play selected for performance at regional theatre festival
Thursday, January 7, 2021
The Northwestern College theatre department’s production of “Jabberwocky” is among those chosen to be performed during the Region Five Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). Due to COVID-19, the regional festival will be held virtually Jan. 16–24.
Adapted by Northwestern theatre professor Ethan Koerner, “Jabberwocky” is a children’s play based on a well-known “nonsense” poem by author Lewis Carroll. The story is portrayed using different styles of puppetry.
“Jabberwocky” is one of just 12 plays being featured in the Region Five festival, an annual event that features undergraduate and graduate theatre programs from six Midwestern states. With its selection, it is also among the plays being considered for the national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in April.
Heartland Theater
Every theater has had to find its way to reach audiences during the pandemic. For Heartland Theater Company, that includes reaching into its own past.
Taking full advantage of its YouTube page, Heartland has been uploading videos culled from past 10-Minute Play Festivals. The festival is a yearly competition that draws short plays from playwrights all over the world.
Dubbed “10-Minute Plays from Better Days,” the YouTube series each week highlights a different play from the festival that was established in 2002. Fortunately, the plays have always been recorded, so the theater had plenty of material from which to choose.