December 12, 2003

The Children's Hour earns acclaim at the Louisiana Theatre Festival

A short caravan that included a borrowed white painted school bus and a bright yellow rented truck packed with scenery, properties and costumes made its way up Interstate 49 to Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 3. The cast and crew of the Department of Drama and Speech production of Lillian Hellmann's The Children's Hour were on their way to the Louisiana State Theatre Festival to present their entry the next day. This was truly a "bus-and-truck" touring experience for the 24 students and three faculty taking the show on the road to the state festival.

The Children's Hour is set in a private school for girls where Mary, one of the students, accuses two female teachers of having an "abnormal attachment" to each other. Mary shares her accusation with her grandmother who is a huge financial contributor to the school, and her grandmother forces the school's closure. The rumors are later proven false.

In Shreveport, The Children's Hour received the following awards: Production Award, Regional Committee Award, and Excellence ProductionDirector Anne Kauffman and entire cast and crew; Faculty Award and Excellence in Costume DesignKellie Grengs; Excellence in ActingKim Lucas and Daiva Olson; Excellence in Makeup DesignTammie Merheb; Excellence in Audio DesignJacqueline Steager; Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship NomineesKerri Driscoll, Kim Lucas, and Gwen Sisco.

By entering in the festival, Loyola's production of The Children's Hour is eligible for inclusion in the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) and also can be considered for an invitation to the KCACTF national festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in the spring. Last year, more than 1,100 productions and 20,000 students participated in the American College Theater Festival nationwide. Louisiana is in Region VI along with Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. By entering this production, the Department of Drama and Speech is sharing in the KCACTF goals to help college theatre grow, and focus attention on the exemplary work produced in college and university theaters across the nation.