OGDEN, Utah — Weber State University students Marley Keith and Porter Lance took home top prizes at the national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. for their lighting and scenic designs.
Both students were one of eight national finalists in each category to compete at the Kennedy Center.
Keith, a recent WSU graduate, earned the National Award for Lighting Design.
Lance, a junior, earned the National Award for Scenic Design and the National Partners of American Theatre Andy Gibbs Design award.
The awards were for the lighting and scenic designs for the WSU production of Sweeney Todd, performed in November 2022.
Keith will represent the U.S. in June at the international Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, the world’s largest event in the field of scenography.
“They’ve both been very involved in the theatre program at Weber State, and we’re thrilled for them to be recognized at this level,” said Jessica Greenberg, theatre program co-director at WSU.
Keith's interest in theater lighting began in high school. She designed her first show, The View Upstairs, at the Good Company Theatre in Ogden.
In 2019, she started studying at Weber State and earned a theatre department scholarship.
“I fell in love with lighting as a storytelling method,” Keith said. “I worked hard throughout my education to hone my skills and learn all about putting your passion and emotion into your art.”
Lance began as an actor and was later drawn to creating art through props and scenery.
“It took months and months of my time, consideration, preparation and learning,” Lance said. “I love storytelling, and in theater, servicing the story is your most essential job.”
Lance plans to work this summer at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the largest performing arts festivals in the country, and will return to Weber State in the fall for his senior year.
Keith is interested in becoming a full-time theater technician and will plans to apply to graduate school.
