The 2022 Department of Theater Arts Awardees

THE 2022 DEPARTMENT OF THEATER ARTS AWARDEES

The Department of Theater is immensely proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 Arts Awards in Theater. We congratulate each of these remarkable, talented, and dedicated students.

The 2022 Arts Awardees were honored at the Arts at Dartmouth Awards Ceremony on Tuesday May 31th @ 4:30 pm in Spaulding Auditorium, hosted by the Hopkins Center for the Arts. 

Eleanor Frost Playwriting Competition

Katie Devin Orenstein '22

Katie Devin Orenstein (she/her) is thrilled to be back for 2 Frost 2 Furious. She is, famously, the only person who uses instagram correctly and she is a film and theater major and middle eastern studies minor. Dartmouth theater: Rent, Jo & Laurie, Seismic Change (Frost/Dodd 2021), Into the Woods, Debutantes From Hell, Meat, Little Circles, Family Style. Alum of NYTW, The Drama League, Imaginarium, Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Irony Point Productions. Special thanks to Bill Nisen, Nilan Johnson, Charisma Carpenter, Michael Ganio, Parker Posey and Alan Cumming, Mia Nelson, and her fellow Frost/Dodd playwrights. Tell Me More, Tell Me More is in memory of Phyllis Elstein, and is dedicated to her grandson, Ben Togut. https://katiedevinorenste.in 

Lila Hovey '23

Lila Hovey (they/them) is a '23 majoring in theater and engineering sciences with a focus on studio art and women's, gender, and sexuality studies. They love fashion history, folk music, queer genre fiction, and their cat, Neptune. They've been active in more than a dozen works of theater while at Dartmouth as an actor, costume designer, and stage manager. They would like to thank Brianna Parry, Kathleen Cunneen, Laurie Churba, and the whole costume shop team for being amazing as well as their mandolin, Mando Patinkin.

 

Ruth and Loring Holmes Dodd Drama Prize

Armita Mirkarimi '25

Armita Mirkarimi '25 creates plays about identity, immigration, and cultural erasure. She is an Iranian-American writer from Orange County, California. Her previous work, What Firouzeh Saw, was workshopped by the Wayward Artist Theater Company. At Dartmouth, Armita studies Government and English Literature while performing and stage managing in the Theater Department. She is passionate about using stories to invest in Iran's cultural future while making sense of the world's chaos. When not writing plays, Armita can be found at Mock Trial practice, contemplating democratic regression, or reading Wordsworth's poems. 

 

Rodney W. Alexander Theater Fellowship

David Hoffman '23

David Hoffman is a junior at Dartmouth College majoring in Government and minoring in Theater. His Dartmouth theater credits include The Living (19F), The Sweet Science of Bruising (19W), Flourtown (21S), Poor Clare (21F), and Rent (22W). Prior to Dartmouth, David was a part of multiple theater groups back at home in Connecticut as well as in New York City. Outside of theater, David is a member of Cords a capella and club lacrosse. He would like to thank the department for this award! 

Stacia Simone Nugent '23

The English language will forever lack the ability to efficiently describe the magnitude of Stacia's overwhelming gratitude for being recognized for the Rodney W. Alexander Theater Fellowship! Stacia plans to graduate with a major in Theater modified with Film and Media Studies and a minor in Digital Arts (although she is an English major at heart). She has had a love and a gift for storytelling for as long as she could remember. In the Dartmouth's Department of Theater, she acted in productions such as The Living, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Wolves, and Rent. Moreover, she has had experience with stage managing and lighting design. She recently performed in Northern Stage's Spamalot during her E-Term, and she is ecstatic to go to London to study at LAMDA for Theater! She is grateful for every opportunity she gets to learn something new in the Theater discipline and never, ever wants to be in a position in which she takes anything for granted. Stacia considered it a huge risk to follow her heart and abandon the Computer Science major for Theater, but, not only does she consider it one of the best choices she has ever made for herself, Stacia considers it to be one of the key components toward unlocking and entering the door that leads to her purpose and her destiny.

Sydney Hassell '24

Sydney Hassell is a '24 from Bridgetown, Barbados. Her current majors are Theater and Mathematical Data Science with a Minor in Environmental Science. She's participated in the Fall Staged Play Reading Series and the Winter Musical 'Rent.' She is very excited to be going to the Theater FSP in the summer. Outside of theater, Sydney is the Music Director of the Dartmouth Sings and a Hopkins Center of the Arts Fellow. She's unsure of her plans after graduation but intends to continue participating in the arts.

 

Benjamin & Edna Ehrlich Prize in the Dramatic Arts

Awo Pomaa Adu '22

Awo Adu is a Ghanaian-American storyteller who enjoys exploring the intersections of writing, photography, and Black identities. As a graduating senior at Dartmouth College, she majors in Film and Media Studies modified with Pan-Africana Studies. One of her favorite memories of her time here at Dartmouth was acting as Miss Mary in Katori Hall's Saturday Night/Sunday Morning. After graduating, she plans to continue collaborating with the Free Soil Arts Collective, a Lowell based arts organization that strengthens voices of local artists of color. 

Jelinda Michaelle Metelus '22

Jelinda Metelus is a '22 from Boston, MA majoring in Sociology modified with Education with minors in Theater and African and African American Studies. On campus she is part of Ujima, CoFired, the NAACP, and is a tour guide. She began her acting career in high school and, while at Dartmouth, has been in Rent, Into the Woods, and multiple student productions. In her junior year, she participated in the E-term at Northern Stage where she assistant directed two productions and was an actor in It's a Wonderful Life. She just finished producing a student production of Lizzie: The Musical and after Dartmouth, Jelinda hopes to pursue a career in acting and create a production company.

 

David Birney Award for Excellence in the Theater Arts

Alisya Reza '22

Alisya is a modified major from Jakarta, Indonesia studying Theater and English, and also studies Cognitive Science. She recently starred in and wrote Ethically Ambiguous, a one-woman show, as part of her Senior Honors Thesis. Recent productions have included The Bacchae (Dionysus); RENT (Alexi Darling, u/s Mimi); but her start in theater was in Stage Management (which she loves dearly!) Alisya also works in sex education/sexual violence prevention and constructs crosswords for The Dartmouth. She is beyond grateful and honored to receive recognition from the Department of Theater after four wonderful years with such cherished mentors and collaborators.

Lila Hovey '23

See bio above, under Eleanor Frost Playwriting Competition

 

Schoenhut Service Award

Alex Gavitt '23

Alex is a '23 at Dartmouth studying physics, astronomy, and educational practices. They've come to know several people in the theatre community at Dartmouth and enjoy doing what they can to support their productions.

Rowan MacLean '25

Rowan is a '25 from a little town north of Chicago. She has three brothers, two dogs, and an appreciation (of uncertain origin) for dad jokes and puns. By day, Rowan is a prospective psychology major hoping to minor in theater and studio art. By night, Rowan frequents the HOP, and has worked behind the scenes in productions as a stage manager, backstage manager, and assistant stage manager. When Rowan grows up, she firstly never wants to grow up fully, but also would love to be a middle grade art teacher. Thank you for reading :)

 

Robert H. Nutt '49 Award

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.

Dominique Mobley '22

Dominique Mobley is a Film & Media Studies major from Scottsdale, AZ. While at Dartmouth, she created, wrote, and directed A Day in the Life of a Black Girl (comedic web series) and directed and produced This is Black Comedy (documentary). She created, wrote, and directed The Hair Salon (comedy short film) and its accompanying documentary, Black @ Dartmouth: The Haircare Experience. Dominique also created the popular The Adventures of Dartmouth Black Girl cartoon. With her work – which is inspired by her time spent in the Theatre Department – Dominique aims to increase the number of positive, authentic representations of Black people in media. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dominique will study for an MA in Screenwriting in London in the year after graduation.

 

Stanley Wallace Technical Theater Award

Gabrielle Mitchell '22

Gabby is a senior at Dartmouth College and is from Norwalk, CT. She is double majoring in Biology and African and African American Studies and is on the Pre-Health Track. On campus she has worked in the Scene Shop and has assisted with many productions on the Stage Management team, most recently working on RENT. She also works for the Admissions Office and serves on the executive board for Dartmouth Alliance for Children of Color. Post-graduation, she will be working in NYC as a Medical Assistant. She is extremely thankful for everyone in the Theater Department and will miss them all after she graduates!

Evan Schafer '22

Evan is a '22 from Clear Lake, Minnesota majoring in Religion and Government. He started working in the shop his freshman fall, and has been involved in nearly every production for the past four years from main stage shows to the WIRED festival.  He has enjoyed learning about lighting, construction, and production over the past four years and developing a set of practical skills in theater production. He would like to thank Scott, Janine, and Jason for all of their guidance and support through the years and will truly miss coming into the shop each morning!

Lucy Jane Biberman '23

Lucy Biberman (she/her) is a '23 studying English, theater, and linguistics from Louisville, Kentucky. A lifelong theater student, Lucy's credits at Dartmouth include: The Living (Dresser), Sweet Science of Bruising (Assistant Stage Manager), The Radical Joy Project (Stage Management Team Member), Flourtown (Stage Manager), Umma (Stage Manager), Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (Stage Manager), and Lizzie (Stage Manager). Lucy would like to thank her family, friends, teachers, and mentors–especially stage management advisor Kathleen Cunneen–for their unwavering help and support.

 

Susan DeBevoise Wright Award

Elisabeth (Betty) Faul-Welfare '23

Elisabeth (Betty) Faul-Welfare is a '23 double majoring in Theater and English. She embraces theater as an actor, writer, lighting designer, and producer. She is currently elated to be participating in an independent study in lighting design. She takes pride in bringing stories to life in as profound a way as she can, be it through her performances, writing, or designs.She looks forward to continued study in Lighting Design and Theater and plans to pursue a Masters Degree immediately following graduation from Dartmouth. Betty's roles have most recently included her debut as Lighting Designer in Lizzie (Dartmouth), founder of Dartmouth Playwrights (Dartmouth), Producer for WiRED: A 24-Hour Theatre Festival (Dartmouth), and Assistant Lighting Designer for RENT (Dartmouth). She has also performed as David's Mother and Ensemble in RENT (Dartmouth Theater Department), Ada in The Other Girls (Dartmouth), Katie in CNTRL ALT (RIGHT) DEL (JAG Festival), Carla in George is Dead (Dartmouth), Soloist and Ensemble in Burlington Does Broadway (Flynn Theater), Chava in Fiddler on the Roof (Colchester Theater Company) and the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (Rice Theater Company). In addition to singing and acting, she is proficient in classical ballet, lyrical and broadway dance and plays the piano and the flute.  Betty's energy is contagious and she brings light and joy to any production or crew she works with. This summer she will be attending a foreign study program with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art as part of her Dartmouth education in theatrical performance. She is deeply honored to have received this award and would like to extend her thanks to the faculty and staff of the Dartmouth Department of Theater.

Lila Hovey '23

See bio above, under Eleanor Frost Playwriting Competition

 

Warner Bentley & Henry B. Williams Fellowship

Nathaniel Stornelli '22

Nathaniel is a double major in Theater and Classical Literature from Rochester, NY. They are deeply honored and grateful to receive this award, and for all the learning, growing, and nurturing they have received from the Theater Department up until this point. Discovering theater was one of the greatest joys of their time at Dartmouth, and for that, they have more people to thank than space to write here. After graduation, Nat is hoping to make those people, the department, and themself proud as they begin a career in theater. 

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 Rent (22W). He has been an active and passionate member of the community since his time at Dartmouth began and can always be found with his hand in some production. He is excited to deepen his involvement with the department moving forward.

Alisya Reza '22

See bio above, under David Birney Award for Excellence in the Theater Arts

 

HOPKINS CENTER AWARDS

Mark L. Lebowitz 1977 Memorial Prize in the Performing Arts

Jacqui Byrne '22

Jacqui is very excited and honored to be receiving this award and is very grateful to the HOP Center and the Theater Department for their support over the years. Throughout her time at Dartmouth as a Theater major and English minor, Jacqui has greatly enjoyed performing in roles in both mainstage and student productions as well as experimenting with stage managing, directing, costume design and other areas of Theater. She will be pursuing her passion through an Acting MFA at Columbia University starting this fall and is deeply thankful to her professors and peers for providing Dartmouth with such a strong theatrical community.

Yijin (Brandy) Zhang '22

Brandy is a music and psychology double major with a minor in theatre from Shenzhen, China. Outside of her major fields of study, she has been actively involved in theatre at Dartmouth over the past 4 years. Primarily a Stage Manager, Brandy did not stop there and strived to learn and grow in other aspects of technical theatre, such as lighting and scenic design. She was able to hone her skills and expand her knowledge of theatre with guidance from the fantastic theatre mentors at Dartmouth, for whom she is beyond grateful. She is determined to continue dedicating herself to work in the performing arts in her future careers. Brandy would like to thank her family, friends, and mentors for their tireless love and support in her pursuit of the performing arts.

 

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

Awo Pomaa Adu '22

See bio above, under Benjamin & Edna Ehrlich Prize in the Dramatic Arts

 

 

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:

Katie Devin Orenstein '22

Zeyris Lizment Rodoli Contreras '22

David Katz '24