Westmont Grabs Five Indy Theater Awards

Westmont’s co-production of “King Richard II” took top honors at the 14th annual Independent Theater Awards, Monday, May 22. The Shakespearean play won four awards, including direction by John Blondell and performance by Mitchell Thomas. Playwright Erik Ehn also won an award for “The Saint Plays,” performed by Westmont students in Porter Theatre last March.

The Lit Moon Theatre Company and Westmont College Repertory Theatre coproduced “Richard II.” The play enjoyed the largest box office draw in college history during its two-week run at Santa Barbara Trinity Episcopal Church. The show also received an invitation to present the production at the Shakespearean Festival in Gdansk, Poland later this summer.

Along with Blondell and Thomas, James Connolly, who provided original music for “Richard II” also won an Indy. New York-based designer Yevgenia Nayberg won an award for scenic design. She joined Westmont as guest artist this season.

“Theater in non-traditional spaces can suffer from dilution,” wrote Santa Barbara Independent Arts Editor Charles Donelan about “Richard II.” “Very rarely does it manage, as this production does, to distill rather than dilute, and to make of its content something more intimate and more intense.”

Westmont presented Ehn’s world premier play, “Rogue,” as part of “The Saint Plays.” The theater arts department commissioned Ehn, dean of the school of theater at California Institute of the Arts, to develop the new play as part of “The Saint Plays.” Last fall, students held a series of workshops with Ehn to collaborate on the creation.

Lit Moon and Westmont will bring back “Richard II” for three shows beginning July 31.