Released: May 24, 2010
Lincoln, Neb. - The Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film announces that graduate student Shannon Cameron is one of two theatre students in the nation to be selected as the recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Directing Fellowship, a national fellowship. Cameron was selected from ten other directors competing at the national festival held April 12-18, 2010 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Cameron, a student in the Master of Fine Arts program in Directing for Stage and Screen, was one of twelve students to be selected to attend the national festival through winning the competition at nationwide regional festivals. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln competes in the Region V Festival, which encompasses the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
At the regional festival, says Cameron, "I directed a scene from Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice. I won the regional competition and was awarded participation in the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington DC. This award included travel, lodging and per diem expenses, as well as attendance at KCACTF National Festival workshops and performances. Many of the master classes included assignments and presentations. With the master teachers' input and the other invited faculty fellows I was selected as the recipient of the 2010 KCACTF Stage Directors and Choreographers Society National Directing Fellowship. This granted me an associate membership into the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society as well as $1000 to offset costs of a unique career development opportunity for next summer."
Before attending UNL, Cameron was the Director of Theatre at Hastings Senior High School in Hastings, NE where she was twice nominated for Nebraska Theatre Teacher of the Year. In 2001 she graduated with a BA in Theatre Education from Emerson College in Boston, MA. While in Boston, Ms. Cameron worked with several social justice non-profits developing drama-based curriculum for the Boston Public Schools. She is highly interested in devising new theatrical works that are a force for positive change within the community. One of her current projects include The Nebraska Immigration Theatre Project. Directed, written and performed by Ms. Cameron, the project examines the human aspect of Nebraska's immigration debate. Her other directing projects this year have included: the premiere of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. . . An Epilogue, Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam, Epic Proportions by Larry Coen and David Crane, My Name is Rachel Corrie edited by Katherine Viner and Alan Rickman, assistant directing a workshop of the new musical Bernice Bobs Her Hair, as well as directing several short films.
For more information, contact Julie Hagemeier of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, (402) 472-2072.