Sarah Myers Named 2007 Winifred Ward Scholar

Ph.D. candidate in Performance as Public Practice Sarah Myers has been selected as the 2007 Winifred Ward Scholar.

This national honor, named for the pioneer of children's theatre and creative drama in the United States, recognizes one outstanding graduate-level student of demonstrated intellectual and artistic ability in the area of child drama/theatre. Applicants are judged on the basis of scholarship, faculty recommendations, indications of strong professional interest and growth, successful performance in some aspect of children's theatre or creative drama, including but not limited to directing, acting, designing, playwriting, teaching and other criteria.

Myers' work as an educator, activist, collaborator, writer, and scholar have all been influenced by two things: an ongoing examination of and experimentation with language and a commitment to community engagement and collective development. Her thesis play The Realm grew out of series of workshops with students at Austin's St. Stephen's Episcopal School and resulted in productions both at St. Stephen's and UT's 2005 University Co-op Presents Cohen New Works Festival. It has since been printed in Dramatics magazine and will be published by Playscripts, Inc. in the coming months.

Myers graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a double major in Theatre and English. She earned her M.F.A. in May 2005 from UT Austin in Playwriting/Drama & Theatre for Youth.

Currently, she is exploring generational power dynamics, the discourse of girlhood, and the politics of identity performance both on and off stage through her involvement as Co-managing Program Director of Austin-based project Grrl Action, a year-round autobiographical writing and performance workshop program for teenage girls, founded by Rude Mechanicals Theatre Collective. Grrl Action is the most significant project Myers has taken on in Austin and will, in fact, be her dissertation topic.

Says Myers, "Becoming a Winifred Ward scholar puts me in the company of the most innovative and energetic leaders in the field of Drama & Theatre for Youth and positions me as an up and coming scholar, artist, and activist in the American Alliance for Theatre and Education."

This award will be presented at the 2007 American Alliance for Theatre & Education Conference held in Vancouver, Canada, July 31-August 5.