2008 Woodie Awards
'In the Sawtooths' heads to D.C.
MATT LA RUE
Culture Writer
Issue date: 3/19/07 Section: Culture
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Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center’s founding chairman, started this national festival in 1969. The KCACTF is dedicated to promoting, encouraging, recognizing and celebrating the finest and most diverse production in university and college theatre programs. To date, the KCACTF involves more than 18,000 students from more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country. This year the Boise State Theatre Arts Department has been chosen to perform their production of “In The Sawtooths,” one of only four full-length productions chosen nationally for this prestigious event.
To be invited to KCACTF’s national conference, theatre programs must first be invited to a regional festival. On Saturday December 9, 2006 the Region VII Selection Committee determined that the following plays were to be invited: “Getting Out” by Marsha Norman, University of Portland, “Life & Limb” by Keith Reddin, Albertson College of Idaho, “In the Sawtooths” by Student Playwright Dano Madden, Boise State University and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, University of Oregon.
From here, KCACTF’s National Selection Committee decides which performances are to be invited to the national festival.
The other full-length productions alongside Boise State at the national festival are as follows: “Nocturne” by Adam Rapp, College of Wooster, “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett, Albright College and “The Diviners” by Jim Leonard, California State University – Fullerton.
Dano Madden, a 1997 Boise State graduate, current student at Rutgers University and playwright of “In the Sawtooths” is continuing some minor editing and revision of the play with the theatre arts department to prepare for the performance at the festival. Madden has already been determined as the winner of the National Student Playwriting Award, one of the highest honors at the KCACTF and will be awarded at the festival.
Madden, while attending Boise State in 1997, was also awarded co-winner of the National Short Play Award for his play “Drop.”
Madden developed his work on “In the Sawtooths” at the Seven Devils Playwright Conference in McCall. Seven Devils is a group dedicated to supporting new American plays and playwrights. At this conference playwrights are invited to spend two weeks writing, rewriting and rehearsing their plays.
Richard Klautsch, Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, discovered through a pamphlet that Madden’s play “In the Sawtooths” was being work-shopped and rehearsed at this conference. Klautsch contacted Madden in curiosity about the play and was sent a script. As you can tell the results have been outstanding.
The production designers include both Boise State theatre arts faculty and students. Professor Ann Hoste designed the costumes and professor Genny Wynn designed the lighting.
Theatre Arts major Erin Haight designed the scenery and music major Kristie Williams designed the sound.
The play itself is a two-act production with a cast of only three actors. Directed by Mike Baltzell, a theatre arts professor, the cast consists of Loren Jones, Kyle Barrow and Dylan Hughes. The play depicts three close friends in their mid to late twenties who go hiking together and a tragic event befalls them.
This play has set a new standard for not only the theatre arts department but for Boise State as a whole. This progression by our theatre arts department further shows the acceleration by which Boise State is becoming a prominent university.
“I’m very proud of everyone in the department, this is the highest achievement we have ever reached. It’s a statement to the nation of the level and quality of our program,” said Klautsch.
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