A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT! In appreciation for the level of excellence exhibited by Salem State Theatre over the years, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) has granted the university $23,000 toward a scholarship to benefit undergraduate students studying theatre arts. This gift supports the Irene Ryan and Kingsley Colton Scholarship, funded by a one-time charitable gift from the Irene Ryan Foundation to support Salem State’s Theatre program, “in recognition of the many decades of success by Salem State theatre majors.” The scholarship was fully endowed to $25,000 by the additional donations of professors Celena Sky April and David Allen George, who have coached Salem State actors for more than 30 years. Salem State Theatre has won numerous national and regional awards through its involvement in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). In the past 25 years, the university has had 12 student actors win the Region 1 competition and move on to the KCACTF nationals in Washington, D.C. Three student actors have won the national Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, making Salem State one of only a few colleges or universities in the country to have three national winners. Salem State Theatre has sent a student—whether actor, director or designer— each year to Washington, D.C., for the past decade. Regionally, Salem State actors have placed in the final round for 28 straight years. Salem State University’s theatre program is one of only three in New England that is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre for meeting or exceeding its rigorous national standards. With an average of 160 students in the program, students can graduate with either a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of fine arts degree. Both programs offer a concentration in performance, design, technical theatre, stage management and secondary education—and attract competitive and committed students. n
“The ‘Sophia’ opens the door for an immense amount of growth and change. On a practical level, the new theatre will allow for so many new spaces to inspire student work. Something major I will take away from Salem State Theatre is how to be an artist who makes bold choices. Having the ‘Sophia’ at our disposal will push us into making bolder choices and taking bigger leaps. Having a new, bigger space calls for us to tell new, bigger stories. The ‘Sophia’ is a gateway for change.” —Adrian Peguero ’17, theatre arts 38
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“The new Gordon Center is a thrilling, long overdue new classroom and tool for the award-winning Salem State Theatre department. I cannot wait to see the finished product and have no doubt that it will be utilized to its full potential right from the start. The productions that were created on the former Mainstage were always very strong, both artistically and technically, and it’s exciting to imagine how much more enhanced future productions will be in this new state-of-the art theatre house.” —Jenney Dale Holland ’13, theatre arts