The spotlight shined extra bright on a pair of Amarillo College students Feb. 24-27 at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 6, in San Angelo.

Driana Bramer and Connor Downs, both part of a contingent of AC theatre students participating at the event – where most took part in Irene Ryan acting auditions – came away with a bit of special recognition.

Bramer won the Sheleigh Carmichael Technical Award for the best set design in the two-year school division, snaring some serious accolades and a $100 prize for her work on the AC production of The Drowning Girls, but that’s not all.

She also won a weeklong internship from the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas, and she will spend that week there this summer.

Also capturing special recognition for design, but in sound, was Connor Downs, who received a Meritorious Achievement Award for his sound-design work on The Drowning Girls. It was his second year in a row to win the award, which represents a second-place finish among all schools in the five-state region.

“Our students had a great showing at the festival,” Monty Downs, instructor of theatre arts, said. “The students who participated in the Irene Ryan acting auditions did very well. We are very proud of all our students.”

Downs noted that in claiming the Carmichael award, Bramer extended AC’s streak of winning that particular award to five years, which coincides with the number of years the award has been in existence.

March 3, 2016