Anoka-Ramsey student competes in Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

Anoka-Ramsey student competes in Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

January 04, 2018

Jim Belden, a student at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, will present his work during the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) in Des Moines, Iowa. His play, “The Camera,” has been selected for the Ten-Minute Play Festival, a part of the festival which runs Jan. 21 – 28, 2018.

Belden is an Associate of Fine Arts student, who is studying Creative Writing and majoring in Theatre at Anoka-Ramsey. He wrote two original plays and submitted them to the festival, then learned he was a regional finalist in December. He describes the play that was nominated as a comedy with a mysterious quality and a surprise ending.

“I wanted to write something that was interesting and thought-provoking,” said Belden. “’The Camera’ is about two neighbors who sit on their front lawn and drink every Saturday. One week, they come outside and discover that there is a surveillance camera, on top of an electrical pole, aimed at their houses. They have no idea why it's there.” 

Belden played the lead role in Anoka-Ramsey’s production of “Good ‘N Plenty,” and he is on the cast for the spring musical, “The Boy Friend.” He’s interested in playwriting and performing for the stage and the screen. His dream is to do both inside of one day.

Belden credits his success to the instructors he has worked with at Anoka-Ramsey, including Blayn Lemke, Kathryn Kysar and Lisa Weaver, who helped to shape “The Camera.” 

“All of them have really fostered a creative environment for me here,” said Belden. “Blayn Lemke offered me the opportunity to submit plays to KCACTF in the first place. Lisa Weaver, as director of ‘Good ‘N Plenty,’ gave me a huge opportunity to play the lead in my first show, and gave us a lot of creative freedom over how we played our characters. Kathryn Kysar has pushed me to create more without compromising my creative freedom, and has given some great insight on styles and strategies for my writing and career.”

For now, he’s focused on the Region V competition, which will give him a chance at the national spotlight. He’ll work with student actors and a student director from other schools in the region, putting the play together throughout the week and then performing the play for an audience. With a partner, Belden will also be competing for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship.

“Jim’s play was selected from 110 submissions—a record number—through a blinded screening process led by Ben Gonzalez, National Playwriting Chair of Region VII,” said Theatre Instructor Blayn Lemke. “The competition was open to any student in this region of the country and many submissions came from students at four-year and graduate school theater programs. Jim was the only community college playwright selected to participate as a regional finalist.”

Region V covers the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.  The ten-minute plays nominated for the regional competition include six works from students at Leslie University; the University of Missouri; the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; the University of Central Missouri; Missouri Western State University and, of course, Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

“One of these  plays will be selected to represent the region at a National Theater Festival hosted by the Kennedy Center in the spring,” said Lemke. “Both the Theatre and the Creative Writing programs are extremely proud of our scholar’s accomplishment.”

Started in 1969, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a theater program for more than 600 academic institutions across the country that offers state, regional and national festivals for college and university students. The program honors theatre excellence, and recognizes student artists through awards and scholarships in play writing, acting, criticism, directing and design.

For more information about the Theatre program at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, visit AnokaRamsey.edu/academics/departments-faculty/theatre/.

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