Lafayette earns Best Actor and Best Actress nods at Southeastern Theatre Conference

SCAPA Lafayette earned superior ratings at the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s 2019 convention, and the judges named Helena Schatzki and Jenna Reed as Best Actress and Kieshaun Butts and Daniel Baesler as Best Actor for their bilingual roles in “The Taste of Sunrise” (spoken English and American Sign Language). According to Lafayette’s director, Amie Kisling, this was the first time the state of Kentucky received Best Actress and only the third time for Best Actor. Lafayette also earned a judges’ discretionary award for Excellence in the Integration of Sign Language. 
A group from Tates Creek High School also participated in SETC, with Natalie Hayslett selected for the All-Star Cast. Theater teacher Daniel Ellis, who directed “The Trojan Women,” said five of his students auditioned at the conference and received 155 total callbacks from colleges and universities. In addition, 17 Lafayette students auditioned for college admission and scholarships, receiving over 800 callbacks. 
Along with the college expo and theater workshops, the FCPS students watched 19 plays from nine other states across the Southeast. “It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the art form of theater,” Kisling said. 
The Southeastern Theatre Conference convention ran Feb. 28 through March 1 in Knoxville, where students from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia vied for the region championship. The top two teams from each member state, including Lafayette and Tates Creek for Kentucky, had qualified for the SETC competition.


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