Shannon Dempsey Part of Honored CLU Play

2012 Feb 1

Shannon Dempsey of Stratford is part of a California Lutheran University production that will be staged at the prestigious Region VIII Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

The Theatre Arts Department will present Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer" twice on Feb. 8 at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Dempsey, a senior communication major, is Catharine Holly.

Only the 10 finest productions from Southern California, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah were chosen for the honor. National judges will select four to six of the best and most diverse productions from the eight regional conferences to be showcased at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The 43-year-old program is designed to encourage, recognize and celebrate works produced in university and college theater programs.

CLU's Theatre Department staged "Suddenly Last Summer" in November under the direction of assistant professor Nate Sinnott. It was the second of two Williams plays presented in fall to honor the centennial of the playwright's birth.

The unconventional production incorporated live video, interpretive movement and a chorus in the tradition of Greek drama. It was dominated by dream imagery, highlighting the powerful themes and language of the play. CLU's Multimedia Department assisted with the production.

This is the third time a CLU production has been selected. Last year, CLU presented "The Cherry Orchard" at the festival.

CLU is a selective university located in Thousand Oaks, with Adult Degree Evening Program and graduate centers in Oxnard and Woodland Hills. With an enrollment of 4,100 students, CLU offers 36 undergraduate majors and graduate programs within the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Management and Graduate School of Education. Doctoral degrees in educational leadership, higher education leadership and clinical psychology are also offered. Members of the CLU student body come from across the nation and around the world and represent a diversity of faiths and cultures. For more information, visit http://www.callutheran.edu.