Drama Student, Faculty Earn Nationwide Accolades

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Clinnesha Sibley, Adam Douglas and Michael Riha.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A graduate student and two faculty members with the department of drama in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences have garnered nationwide recognition for playwriting, production and book publishing this spring.

Adam Douglas, a master of fine arts candidate in the playwriting program, placed third in the “Best Short” category for his original work The Last Day of Oscar Wilde’s Life at the 2013 Downtown Urban Theater Festival, held in Manhattan. The festival is designed to promote diversity by showcasing diverse theatrical expression, foster the development of new works by a cross-section of artists whose work tend to be under-represented, expand the horizons for playwrights and their audiences and cultivate new diverse audiences by making theater more affordable and accessible.

Tell Martha Not to Moan, an original play by Clinnesha Dillon Sibley, assistant professor of drama, had its world premiere at the Athena Project Festival. The play was chosen from six new works written by female playwrights and ran for three weeks at the Aurora Fox Theater in Denver. It received positive reviews in the Aurora Sentinel, Aurora News Weekly and the Denver Post, which described the play’s opening weekend as a “lovely debut” that “skirts melodrama without sacrificing tenderness.”

Michael Riha, assistant professor of drama, held a book signing at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology conference in Milwaukee for his recent publication Starting Your Career as a Theatrical Designer: Insights and Advice from Leading Broadway Designers (Allworth Press, 2012). Riha has been on faculty since 1992 and is currently the director of design for the master of fine arts program. He has designed scenery, lighting, sound, and costumes for more than 80 productions at venues including Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera and the MUNY Theatre in St. Louis, and has mentored more than 75 student designers.