Theater major wins awards for costumes

The Theatre Department at GCSU gained exposure when sophomore theater major Matt Riley took home first place at a recent regional competition. Professionals associated with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival nominated Riley for costumes designed for GCSU productions “The Rover” and “Sueño”.

After being nominated, Riley traveled with seven other students from GCSU to the regional festival in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Riley competed in two separate categories: costume design, and technical design and craft. Riley was new to the judging process and had limited support from friends and professors as Riley was the first GCSU student to go to the regional competition for design.

“There’s this room; a giant gallery full of all these 8-by-4 walls. You set up your display there and (the respondents) will come around. You have a certain time that you are given and you stand there,” Riley said. “They’ll ask you, ‘What was the inspiration behind your design?’ or ‘Where are your color palette choices?’ They give you a five to 10 minute response and then you are done.”

Sophomore theater major Matt Riley shows off one of his decorated masks used in “The Rover.” Riley’s design came in second place for a regional award for technical design and craft.

Riley’s two costume pieces from “Sueño” won him the Barbizon Award for Theatrical Design Excellence in Costumes. The masks that he created for “The Rover” earned him a second place for the SETC/ Region IV Award for Technical Design and Craft. He is now waiting to have his works judged at the national level where one winner from each category will be announced April 16.

News of the award traveled quickly back to the GCSU campus. Riley called assistant professor of costume design, Eric Griffis, to give him the news personally.

“I was thrilled. It’s a big deal for him and it is also a big deal for the department and the school to get this kind of recognition,” Griffis said. “I was very proud to say that it is my student going to nationals.”

Griffis taught Riley in costume classes and worked with him throughout the production of both plays. Griffis logged 83 hours throughout the week preceding “Sueño” working on costume construction. Riley spent an estimated 65 hours the same week working along with eight additional students from the costume construction class.

“‘Sueño’ was a collaboration where I designed the costumes and people helped construct them,” Riley said.

GCSU Theatre Chair Karen Berman was previously the president of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. While president, it was her responsibility to deliver the award checks to the KCACTF winners in Washington, D.C.

“This regional award is amazing. Matt competed against graduate theatre design students and won. Most often, costume design is done by faculty,” Berman said. “A sophomore designing a main stage show such as he did for ‘Sueño’ is unusual and indicative of his outstanding talent. He delivered an amazing design.”

Posted by Drake Simons on Apr 1 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry