University Theatre March 4, 1998 Contact Karen Scheeland (541) 346-4190 or John R. Crosiar 346-3135 EDITOR'S NOTE: To request photographs of national finalist Elisa Morrison and the winning designs, call Karen Scheeland, (541) 346-4190. EUGENE--University of Oregon theater arts students brought home 13 awards from the Northwest Drama Conference and Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival (ACTF). More than 30 colleges and universities from the Pacific Northwest participated in the Feb. 16-20 conference, which was hosted by Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash. Twenty-nine students represented the UO's Department of Theater Arts at the conference as competitors, respondents and panelists. Two theater arts faculty members--Alexandra Bonds and department head Jack Watson--also attended the conference. Watson currently is vice chair of the northwest region of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival. UO students earned awards in acting, costume design, lighting design, playwrighting and criticism. Award winners include Elisa Morrison, a junior theater arts major. Morrison was selected from a field of more than 60 Irene Ryan acting competitors to compete in the American College Theatre Festival's national finals at the Kennedy Center this spring in Washington, D.C. Morrison of 1210 N.W. Fernwood Circle, Corvallis, received the additional honor of the Northwest Drama Conference award for Best Classical Piece. Also chosen to compete in the ACTF national finals are Rebecca Utz of 2933 Willamette St., Apt. 2, Eugene, in costume design, and Alan McEwen of 2914 Plymouth Dr., Bellingham, Wash., in lighting design. Both are theater arts master of fine arts degree candidates. They were recognized for their work on last year's Robinson Theatre Season production of "An Evening in Beckett's Shorts." Theater arts doctoral degree candidate Jim Utz won the Northwest Drama Conference award for Best Original One-Act Play for "Burnman Now," produced last spring in UO's Pocket Playhouse. Utz of 1801 Tea Place, Davis, Calif., also received first place in the graduate division of the scholarly paper competition. Other award recipients in the scholarly paper competition included theater arts doctoral degree candidates Susann Suprenant of 1410 Mt. Charleston, Apt. 26, Reno, Nev., and Ame Wilson Smith of 229 E. 13th Ave. Ellensburg, Wash. Both received honorable mention in the graduate division, while Ceridwyn Gipson, a senior theater arts major of 2025 Onyx St., Eugene, received honorable mention in the undergraduate division. Heather Brooks of 4477 Highway 201, Ontario, a theater arts master of fine arts degree candidate, received two awards, Most Creative Solution and Best Overall, for her costume designs in the Northwest Drama Conference's new "Design Storm" competition. Dagua Webb, a junior undeclared major of 2141 W. 16th Court, Eugene, received honorable mention for her costume designs from a class project on the play "Woyzeck." Joel Harmon of 1090 Clark St., Apt. 105, Eugene, a theater arts master of arts degree candidate, also received honorable mention for his work reviewing plays at the conference's Critic's Institute. -30- #H-2163/A&E,Hometowns