The 2021 Department of Theater Arts Awardees

 

THE 2021 DEPARTMENT OF THEATER ARTS AWARDEES

The Department of Theater is immensely proud to announce the recipients of the 2021 Arts Awards in Theater. We congratulate each of these remarkable, talented, and dedicated students.

The 2021 Arts Awardees will be honored at the Arts at Dartmouth Awards Ceremony on Tuesday May 25 @ 4:30 pm, hosted on YouTube by the Hopkins Center for the Arts via YouTube. Event details available HERE.

 

Eleanor Frost Playwriting Competition

Katie Devin Orenstein '22

Katie Devin Orenstein does not exist. Hopefully she will get to live her life in rehearsal rooms. Dart theater: Into the Woods, Debutantes From Hell, Meat, Little Circles, Family Style. Love to Nick Gutierrez, Mia Nelson, Hannah Gellman, Zea Eanet, Caroline Wong, Bill Nisen, Carl Thum, Kirk Chuggins, Johanna Evans, and her amazing non-theater friends. Special thanks to Stuart H. for being rich and interesting, and to Sean Paul for inventing temperature in 2006 - vital, for a play about climate change. Katie would never have made it to the museum without Patrick, and wouldn't have stayed without Nancy and Phil. She is grateful for the wisdom of countless AMNH staff including Jacklyn Grace Lacey, Susan Perkins, Leah Golubchick, Christina Wallace, Rebecca Oppenheimer, Erin Chapman, and Roderick Mickens.

Mia Nelson '22

Mia Nelson is a '22 from Denver, CO studying English and Human Centered Design. Her writing has been recognized by The Poetry Society of London, Princeton University, The Atlanta Review, Columbia College Chicago, & The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. At Dartmouth, she is a Teaching Assistant for Engineering 12, a former Historical Accountability Fellow, and a leader in the Dartmouth Outing Club, where she chaired Cabin and Trail and Women in the Wilderness. Previously, she received honorable mentions in the 2020 Eleanor Frost Playwriting Contest and in both the English Department's Ralston Prize and American Academy of Poets Prize.

Ruth and Loring Holmes Dodd Drama Prize

Stella A. Asa '22

Stella A. Asa is humbled and grateful to be recognized for this award. It is an honor to be nurtured and creatively supported within Dartmouth's Theater Department and Stella continues to look forward to cultivating and collaborating with new and inspiring projects on campus. This award is a signification of the hard work, dedication, passion, and utmost respect Stella has for the craft and production of theater. The delegation of such an award to Stella A. Asa is nothing short of a confirmation that her efforts to pursue theater in her post-grad career are not just a dream but a heartening reality. 

Rodney W. Alexander Theater Fellowship

Awo Pomaa Adu '22

Awo is a current junior from Lowell, Massachusetts, Ghana origin. She studies the intersections of Film, Pan-African identities, and Writing at the College. She currently serves as the interim president of the Black Underground Theatre and Arts Association. During her most recent off-term, she worked as a programming intern at the Free Soil Arts Collective, a local theatre based in her hometown. She is a storyteller who employs filmmaking, spoken word poetry, and theatre performance to share powerful stories about Black identities. After graduation, she plans to gain more experience as an artistic producer. 

Isaiah Brown '23

Isaiah Brown is a theater major set to graduate in 2023. Some of his involvement with Dartmouth theater includes work on The Living (19F) Faith, Hope, and Charity(20F), and The Radical Joy Project (21W). He has been an active and passionate member of the community since his time at Dartmouth began and is excited to deepen his involvement with the department moving forward.

Jelinda Metelus '22

Jelinda Metelus is a '22 from Boston, MA majoring in Sociology modified with Economics, and minoring in Theater and Education. On campus she is part of Ujima, Dartmouth Alliance for Children of Color, and is a tour guide. She began acting in high school. At Dartmouth, she has been in Into the Woods, multiple student productions, and multiple zoom plays! This past fall she participated in the e-term at Northern Stage. There, she was the assistant director of two productions, as well as an actor in It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play. After Dartmouth, Jelinda hopes to pursue a career in education policy, criminal justice, and/or acting.

 

Benjamin & Edna Ehrlich Prize in the Dramatic Arts

Savannah S. Miller '21

Savannah Miller is a senior Theater major and English and Russian double minor. She has had four original plays produced at Dartmouth and received the Eleanor Frost Playwriting Award twice. Her play The House was also selected as one of two plays for Young Playwrights' Theater's year-long development process. She has worked with different theatre organizations, including the New York Theatre Workshop, the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater, the Stratford Festival, and the Women's Theatre Festival. Savannah plans to attend graduate school for playwriting after spending two years with Teach for America in Charlotte, NC. 

 

David Birney Award for Excellence in the Theater Arts

Isabel Wallace '21

wallace_isabel.jpg

Isabel Wallace is a government and theater double major from Little Silver, NJ. She is grateful for the opportunities the dept has provided for artistic exploration and growth, both on campus and virtually. Dartmouth roles have included 'Mary' in Hair (18S), 'Snow White' in Into the Woods (19W), and 'Lydia' in Red Speedo (20F). Most recently she appeared in The Radical Joy Project (21W), and she is currently stage-managing and performing in Kate Budney's Asynchronous Mission #6. She is also a Politics and Law Fellow currently researching women's representation in American politics. After graduation, Isabel will be joining the enterprise sales team at Slack. She thanks the theater dept for its resilience through rapidly changing times and her fellow '21s for fostering a warm and lively creative community.

Lexi Warden '21

Lexi is a modified major from Seattle studying Theater and African and African American Studies. She recently directed Bulrusher by Eisa Davis as a component of her Senior Honors Thesis. Acting roles with the Department of Theater have include 'This Lady' in Citrus (18S), 'The Narrator' in Into the Woods (19W), and The Radical Joy Project (21W). Beyond Dartmouth, Lexi continued her involvement with Citrus at Northern Stage as a member of the cast during its New Works Now reading in 2019, and subsequently as the assistant director and assistant choreographer for its world premiere in 2020. Outside of theater, Lexi is a member of the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.

Schoenhut Service Award

Lucy Biberman '23

Lucy Biberman '23 is pursuing a major in English modified with Theatre at Dartmouth. She hails from Louisville, KY, where her theatrical journey began at St. Francis School and Ballard High School. At Dartmouth, Lucy has served on the backstage crew for: The Living (Dresser), The Sweet Science of Bruising (Costume Construction/Assistant Stage Manager), The Radical Joy Project (Stage Management Team), and Flourtown (Stage Manager). Lucy is excited to pursue stage management further, and would like to thank her professors, mentors, family, and friends for their love and support.

Lila Hovey '23

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Lila Hovey is a sophomore from Sherborn, Massachusetts, studying engineering, theater, and studio art while harboring an undying passion for historical garments. They have worked in the costume shop since their freshman fall and participated in The Living, The Sweet Science of Bruising, The Radical Joy Project, Jane, and Family Style, as an actor, costumer, and/or stage manager. Lila is grateful to the theatre department for providing opportunities for collaboration and creation during this virtual year and is looking forward to working with everyone in person again soon!

Talia Pikounis '21

Talia Pikounis is a '22 majoring in Anthropology modified with Global Health. She is on the pre-health track and is passionate about increasing health equity. For the past three years, she has worked in the Theater Department's Scene Shop. One of her favorite projects was helping to repaint the Shop doors to the Moore Theater. On campus, Talia is involved in environmental toxicology research through the Biology Department. She is a loving dog owner and avid coffee drinker. She is currently training to be a SAPA and before Covid, she taught elementary schoolers about science with Growing Change.

 

Robert H. Nutt '49 Award

Naomi Lam '21

Naomi Lam '21 is a history and theater double major. In high school, she joined the drama club to confront her fear of public speaking. She's been in love with theater ever since. She's previously performed in Medea, Hair, The Bald Soprano, Trivia Champion, and Lost Angeles. Naomi's more recent passion has been playwriting. Her one-act, Spaceship 99, was the Ruth and Loring Dodd Playwriting Contest 2020 winner and she wrote and performed a solo show this spring entitled, Literally Obsessed. Her most recent project is her honors thesis, Family Style, a play about immigration and assimilation.

Lexi Warden '21
See bio above, under "David Birney Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts"

Stanley Wallace Technical Theater Award

Millenah Lima Nascimento '21

Millenah Nascimento '21 is a Theater major, and Digital Arts minor with a passion for theatre as a means of educating, inspiring, storytelling, and exhibiting the stories of all people. She has served as a stage manager for multiple productions, and last year completed her E-Term at Northern Stage. She currently works as the Department Student Office Assistant. Millenah would also like to thank Dr. Monica White Ndounou and Milena Zuccotti for their unwavering support, guidance, and care – they have been the most incredible mentors the last 4 years and for that she is beyond grateful.

​​​​​​Rory Schadler '21

Rory Schadler is a Physics major modified with Computer Science and a Chinese Language minor from Lexington, MA. He has worked in various forms of technical theater since middle school, and at Dartmouth he is an employee in the scene shop as well as an occasional stagehand and technician for department productions. Outside of the theater, Rory sings with the Dartmouth Dodecaphonics and the Dartmouth Glee Club, and is the President of Sigma Nu.

Nathaniel Stornelli '21

Nathaniel Stornelli is a double major in Theater and Classical Literature from Rochester, NY. They are honored to have received this award, and consider themself lucky to not only have discovered a love of theater during their time at Dartmouth, but to have been nurtured as a student in such a wonderful Theater Department and community (and hope to soon return to that community in person). When not onstage, backstage, or quoting that "All the world's a stage," Nat is usually found swapping stories and sharing niche facts with friends.

 

Susan DeBevoise Wright Award

Stella A. Asa '22
See bio above, under "Ruth & Loring Holmes Dodd Drama Prize"

Jacqueline Byrne '22

Jacqui is a proud member of the Dartmouth theater community and to be honored with this incredible award and opportunity. This past year, she has been involved with VoxFest in the Summer Theater Lab, participated in the E-Term program at Northern Stage, performed in The Radical Joy Project and is currently acting in the Honors Thesis play Jane. In the past, she was involved with other Dartmouth theater pieces, as Matty in The Sweet Science of Bruising and Doreen in George is Dead. This summer, she will be working with Northern Stage again and is so excited to continue her theater journey through the support of the department.

 

Warner Bentley & Henry B. Williams Fellowship

Kate Budney '21

Kate (she/her) is a senior theater major with an education minor from Hanover, NH. In the theater department she has primarily participated as a performer (Hair, Into the Woods, Cupid and Psyche, Dance Nation), but she has also loved working in stage management and as a props master. She also serves as the 20-21 Department Student Representative. Kate spent her off-terms interning at Target Margin Theater in Brooklyn and working as an E-Termer at Northern Stage. She is especially proud to be spending her last term doing an honors thesis in devised theater with some of her very best friends. 

Naomi Lam '21
See bio above, under "Robert H. Nutt '49 Award"

Savannah S. Miller '21
See bio above, under "Benjamin & Edna Ehrlich Prize in the Dramatic Arts"

Lexi Warden '21
See bio above, under "David Birney Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts"

 

HOPKINS CENTER AWARDS

Mark L. Lebowitz 1977 Memorial Prize in the Performing Arts

Matt Haughey '21

Matt grew up singing around the piano in his childhood home in Madison, NJ with his two older brothers. During the overwhelming academic terms at Dartmouth, Matt would find solace writing music in the piano practice rooms at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. After some pressure from his friends to begin releasing his music, he released his first single, "Make You Happy", in the Fall of 2019. Since then, he has released 4 more songs and his music has been streamed over 1,000,000 times. Matt is also a member of the Dartmouth Cords acapella group and the Dog Day Players improv comedy group. Matt would like to thank his parents, brothers, and friends for their endless love and support!

 

Marcus Heiman–Martin R. Rosenthal '56 Achievement Awards in the Creative Arts

Kate Budney '21
See bio above, under "Warner Bentley & Henry B. Williams Fellowship"

 

OTHER HONORS 

Pillar Recognition

The Pillar Recognition process was established in 2019 in ackowledgement and celebration of the fact that the energy, creativity, and dedication of our student body is the cornerstone, or the pillar, that supports and elevates theater at Dartmouth. The Department of Theater recognizes and honors the theatrical commitment of the following studetns this year:

Melyanet Espinal '24
Arielle Feuerstein '24
Eleanor Hackett '23
Min Hur '24
Danielle Muller '24
Jeffrey Lam '24
Joana Lame '23
Dawn Lim '24
Edward Lu '21
Katie Orenstein '22