Theatre Students Capture Acting Honors Second Year in a Row

CSU junior Edward Zaboroskie and his acting partner Ansley Selman have won the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 4 Irene Ryan acting competition, and will travel to Washington DC on April 18th to compete for the national title. This is the second year in a row that CSU Theatre students have captured this award, the highest collegiate acting award in the country. The Region 4 competition draws students from Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Of the thousands of participants in college productions in these states, nearly five hundred graduate and undergraduate students were nominated for the acting competition for their superior work in college productions, including twelve from Columbus State.

Nominees select an acting partner and perform two scenes, as well as a song or a monologue. After the preliminary auditions, 32 pairs of semi-finalists are selected. Also making the semifinals this year was CSU Senior Carrie Poh, who partnered with Caleb Lawton. The semi-finals reduce the number of competitors to sixteen pairs, and two pairs of students are selected as regional winners at the final audition. Zaboroskie has the unique accomplishment of being nominated twice, for his performances in The Cripple of Inishmaan directed by CSU Theatre Professor Larry McDonald and Senora Tortuga, directed by Professor Brenda May Ito.

Zaboroskie and Selman will represent CSU at the national festival in April. They will receive an all expense paid trip to Washington DC where they will participate in workshops and seminars with tony-award winning directors, authors and playwrights. On Saturday, April 18th, they will perform on the Kennedy Center stage for a chance to win the national title.