As the dramaturge for the Theater and Dance Department’s staging of The Threepenny Opera last fall, Ryan Connolly, ’16, played a key role in helping shape the production.
While his contributions were strictly behind the scenes, they have not gone unnoticed. At the recent Region 1 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Ryan won the 2016 Student Dramaturgy Award for his work on the musical.
“It’s kind of surreal still,” said Ryan, who was joined at the six-day festival in Connecticut by the musical’s director, Dr. Suzanne Ramczyk, along with student cast members and designers.
“I’m relatively new to theater so I’m very thankful that I’ve had a director, advisers, actors and designers who supported me,” said Ryan, a Coast Guard veteran who is a philosophy major and theater minor.
The Norton resident already earned recognition as the first runner-up at last year’s festival for his work on VetSpeak, a 2014 BSU dramatic documentary also directed by Dr. Ramczyk, a professor of theater arts.
As a dramaturge, Ryan analyzes the script and researches a play’s historical context. He then helps the director devise a concept for the production and works with the actors and designers.
“As a philosophy major, I really enjoy analyzing situations and texts and trying to get at the meat of what is really being said,” he said.
Dr. Ramczyk, who first met Ryan through a campus veterans program, initially invited him to serve as her military consultant to the VetSpeak production, a role that then expanded.
“It was clear that he is a mature student who had a lot to offer in the areas of thorough research, analytical and critical thinking, clarity in presentation, and a keen interest in inquiry,” she said.
At the festival, Ryan’s “professionalism, clarity of thought, and thoroughness” set him apart from the other student competitors, Dr. Ramczyk said, adding that when she announced the award, the presenter said of him, “‘This is someone to watch.’” (University News & Media, front photo by Matt Greene)
