Thursday, January 20, 2011 » “I won’t say I’m an underdog … but I’ve kind of always felt that I’ve had to try extra-hard to get attention for my craft or what I do,” said Emily Tritle (jr) after placing in finals at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (Region 3) Irene Ryan Acting Competition.
Tritle, who said she sometimes feels under-appreciated by her family and peers, gave God credit for her victory at the competition.
“Once I made it to the finals it was like God saying to me, ‘You have talent. … I’ve given it to you; you’re allowed to use it; it’s OK,’” Tritle said.
Tritle, Cody Konschak (jr) and their respective acting partners, Steven Porter (jr) and Kendra Emmett (so), competed in the competition Jan. 4-8. Tritle and Porter advanced to finals and Konschak and Emmett to the semifinals, further than any previous competitors from IWU.
Tritle and Konschak, along with others who chose not to compete, were nominated by respondents from the ACTF for their roles in last fall’s production of “Doubt.”
These students represented IWU among several other schools in the region, including those from Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. According to Porter, about 250 student pairs performed, representing private, state and graduate schools.
Tritle and Porter were among 16 pairs that made it to the finals.
‘Even better than winning’
The competition began on Wednesday, Jan. 5 when 250 students and their partners performed one 3-minute scene for the preliminary round. IWU representatives have attended the competition for the past four years but have only made it to this round, according to Dr. Greg Fiebig, professor of Communication.
From there, about 40 pairs made it to the semifinals. Both teams from IWU made it to this round. At semifinals, pairs performed their 3-minute scene and a second scene totaling less than 5 minutes.
“People started screaming as soon as I was done,” Tritle said. “I thought that was going to be the last time I performed.”
That evening the results were announced.
Only 16 teams made it to the finals, where those who competed performed their two scenes and one 1-minute monologue.
Tritle’s name was the last called to advance to finals.
“I just stopped,” Tritle said. “I didn’t even hear my name. … My knees gave out; I just sat on the floor. … I think for hours after that I was at the point of hysteria. I’m laughing; I’m crying.”
Because Tritle didn’t expect to make it into the finals, she did not have a monologue fully prepared. She practiced it the next morning with help from Fiebig and Konschak.
“I told Emily, who hadn’t done much work on her monologue … ‘Emily, you need to get your monologue nailed down,” Fiebig said. Tritle said that she didn’t think she would go on, but Fiebig insisted she practice.
Although Tritle and Porter did not place in the top two in finals, which would allow them to compete at the national level, they were proud of their success.
“For me, making it to the finals is even better than winning it,” Tritle said. “No, I didn’t get the top two spots, but I didn’t need to. I didn’t even have to make it to the finals for me to understand that I have the ability. For me making it to the finals, that was my trophy.”
‘[Theatre] is … a unifying thing.’
Konschak knew he had a chance to compete even before he was nominated — but he did not think he’d make it past the prelims.
“No one [from IWU has] ever made it past the first round; it’s kind of a crap shoot,” Konschak said. In fact, he and Emmett did not polish their second scene, from “Twelfth Night,” because they did not think they’d make it to the semifinals.
Still, the two stayed in Marion during the first week of Christmas break and came back early in order to practice.
The semi-finalists were announced on a PowerPoint screen in the Michigan State University auditorium, where the ACTF was held. The IWU theatre students — the four competitors, along with eight others who did not compete — waited as the slide show listed name after name.
Finally, a slide read: “From Indiana Wesleyan University: Cody Konschak and Emily Tritle.”
Konschak said, “And I was just telling Fiebig … ‘If I get it, I’m not going to freak out like [crazy].’ Lies. Lies. … The entire group just stood up and went ‘WOOO!’ The people in front of us flew forward.”
Konschak and Emmett did not move on to the finals like Tritle and Porter, but they did receive feedback from the judges.
“They had mostly positive feedback,” said Emmett, “[but] they didn’t like my shirt. That was really the only negative thing they said [about the first scene].”
Emmett said she didn’t feel much pressure competing in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition, partly because she competed last year but didn’t make it past prelims — and because her mom, Global Studies Supervisor Sandy Emmett, came along.
Sandy Emmett, who acted as the female supervisor, said, “I was pleased to see the level of talent that we have.” She said that she realized that watching on-campus productions, but it was encouraging to see IWU place among large state schools.
After Emmett and the IWU students watched plays performed by other schools, another aspect of the festival, Emmett led discussions on them.
“[The discussions] could be lighthearted, they could be really in-depth and philosophical, but the energy, the intelligence, the excitement of all of the students was energizing to me,” said Emmett. “I enjoy that very much. … I think that was the best part for me: interacting with the students.”
For Emmett, the discussion sessions reminded her that many aspects of theatre are universal, whether a person is an actor or a part of the audience, at a state school or a private university.
Kendra Emmett said, “Theatre’s not everyone’s cup of tea necessarily, but I wish that people understood that there is so much to offer. There’s so much you can gain from the theatre.”
Kendra Emmett said that theatre “addresses issues across the board,” affecting all different kinds of people. “It’s kind of a unifying thing in that way.”
“It’s not just for artsy people and English people,” added Konschak. “It’s for everyone.”
Unified in discipline and success, the quartet of IWU students showed that small-school theatre doesn’t limit what they can accomplish.
For Kendra Emmett, that meant remembering the value of her craft.
For Porter, feeling confident of his performance.
For Konschack, reaching new levels.
And for Tritle, finally doing her talent justice.