HILLSBORO, Kan. – On January 24, Tabor College junior Cheyenne Derksen won the National Critics Institute Region 5 competition, as part of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). This year, over 1,500 students and faculty from 81 colleges and universities participated in eight different regional festivals all across the country.
The 20 year old from Goddard, Kan. competed during the week of January 20 – 24 against seven other students from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Each student traveled to Lincoln, Neb. to spend time in workshops, performances, and competitions that included playwriting, acting, criticism, directing, and design.
Familiar with drama from her role as president of her high school thespian club, Derksen thought her days in competitive drama were over. She didn’t even know about the KCACTF competition until her theater professor, Laurel Koerner, suggested she submit an entry.
“We’d had a conversation in early November about her career goals, and the Institute came to mind,” says Koerner. “I asked later that day if it interested her, and soon we were talking logistics and submitting her application essay.”
Derksen said she was anxious about submitting her work.
“Before I was selected to the conference in the first place, I was so paranoid, because I don’t function well without structure.
“Initially I was terrified, because I had no idea what they wanted from me. All they said was to send in a review.”
In early December, Derksen’s test article was submitted for preliminary review and by the time classes concluded before Christmas, she’d already received an email confirming she was a one of the top eight students selected to participate in the Region 5 competition.
Her emotions finally settled down once she made it to Nebraska.
“At the actual conference, I was oddly calm. I wasn’t afraid at all. I was just really glad to be in this vibrant community of people who are all enthusiastic about the same thing.”
The intense, four day competition mixed elements of theatre and writing. Each day, all eight students would watch a production and then write reviews for critique by peers and other professionals. Each article consisted of 800-1,000 words and was then submitted on a blog, plus read aloud for the other competitors. Derksen said she felt very “vulnerable” to have to read her work in front of others.
Before the winner could be announced at the awards ceremony on Friday, Derksen was already on the road back to Hillsboro.
“Since we live four hours away, we were already in the car and I checked Facebook on my phone at a gas station in Nebraska and saw that one person from high school had Facebooked me and said ‘Hey, I think you won something.’ I text back, WHAT DID I WIN?”
Derksen quickly realized she won the competition and the celebration in the car was “totally anticlimactic.” She shared the news with Prof. Koerner and they celebrated all the way home by eating sesame sticks and animal crackers.
Derksen will be fed much better during the week of April 14th, when she receives an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete at the Kennedy Center National Festival against seven others from all over the United States.
As of right now, students like Derksen do not have a place to perform, learn, and grow under one roof at Tabor College. The ability to compete in the fine arts on a national level should garner support for the new Center for the Arts.
“Winning that award justifies Tabor’s need for a fine arts building, because it would grant the students much more access to the fine arts that are key for an applicable education in today’s world.”