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Hamlet
Wins Six Awards for Outstanding Production
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The April production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, by The
Pomona College Theatre Department for The Claremont
Colleges, has won six Kennedy Center American College
Theatre Festival (ACTF) awards.
 During
the play’s four-day run, Ben Acland (Pomona ’07), who played
Hamlet, and Zarah Kulczycki (Pitzer ’09), who played Ophelia
were recognized for Meritorious Achievement in Acting by the
regional ACTF adjudicator, Dr. Terry Smith. This qualifies
the two actors to advance to the regional competition next
February to compete for the Irene Ryan Award, an important
nationally recognized acting award. If either wins this
regionally, he or she is qualified to go to the national
event in Washington, D.C. and compete with the winners of
all the ACTF participating schools of which there are a
large number.
"This was the best production of Hamlet I have ever seen at
a college," Smith, the adjudicator, said in his critique.
"Usually the person playing the role of Hamlet is a graduate
student at least or more likely, 30 years old.” Acland is
21.
The entire show of Hamlet also received a Meritorious
Award for Ensemble. According to Professor Betty Bernhard,
who directed Hamlet, “This is a greatly treasured award
because theatre is a collaborative event. The character of
Hamlet was supported with excellent costumes, scenery,
lights, live music, and 23 other actors. The award attests
to the high quality of the production as a whole.”
Other awards for the Hamlet production included Angel
Herrera (Pitzer ’07), Meritorious Award for Set Design; Kev
Tutunjian (Pitzer ’07), Meritorious Award for Design for
puppet and ghost design; and Hannah Albert (Scripps ‘09) and
MaryAlison Weintraub (Scripps ‘09), Meritorious Award for
Stage Management.
 Ben
Aclund and Zarah Kulczycki were also invited to do a
"showcase" of 10 minutes of Hamlet, during the ACTF Region
VIII Festival in 2008. According to Bernhard, “It is a big
honor to be invited to showcase from a production. It
doesn't happen often.” There are more than 200 colleges,
universities and academies in Pomona’s region, ACTF Region
VIII.
The American College Theatre Festival judging of Hamlet
occurred during its regular run, April 5-8. The cast did not
know which day the judge was attending.
The Pomona College Theatre Department for The Claremont
Colleges is the only five-college theatre department in the
country. All students participate as performers,
playwrights, designers, dramaturges, backstage crew,
directors, and/or audience members. A bequest by Charles and
Marian Holmes enables the department to enrich the
curriculum with guest artists, companies and teachers. |
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