A Western theater student placed second nationally while competing for an acting scholarship at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C.
Ella Newborn, a fourth-year student majoring in theater with a minor in critical disability studies, said although placing second feels surreal, he finally got his prize, a check in the mail for $2,500.
“I think it’ll feel less surreal once I cash that,” Newborn said.
A theater adjudicator nominated Newborn for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship after seeing his performance in Western’s production of “Hurricane Diane” by Madeleine George in November 2024.
After placing first in the regional festival in Arizona, the Kennedy Center paid for Newborn and his chosen scene partner, fourth-year student Jersey Patterson, to attend the national festival. Besides competing, they spent their time at the nation’s capital networking with theater professionals, attending workshops and watching professional theater productions.
Patterson and Newborn were happily stunned when they heard Newborn’s name as the national runner-up.
“It was like a punch to the stomach. It was like a slap across the face,” Patterson said.
Western fourth-year student Jersey Patterson performing in “Hurricane Diane” at the Performing Arts Center Mainstage at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. Upon receiving his Irene Ryan Scholarship nomination, Ella Newborn selected Patterson to be his scene partner at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. // Photo credit Alex Bodi Hallet
After the initial nominations, about 160 Irene Ryan candidates competed in the regional preliminary round, said Professor Rich Brown, chair of Western’s theatre and dance department.
Those 160 candidates turn into 36 for the semifinals and are cut in half for the finals. Judges are swapped out between each round as candidates perform their four-minute packages with their scene partners.
Of the final 18, one Irene Ryan candidate moves on to represent Region 7 at the national theater festival, comprising nine Northwest states. This year, that candidate was Newborn.
In the past three years, Western’s Irene Ryan candidates have placed regionally or nationally. This year is the highest a Western student has performed.
Brown said attending the national festival helps students metamorphose into equals among theater professionals.
“It’s life-changing because you understand coming out of that, that you are now a colleague with all of these artists,” Brown said.
The diversity within the Irene Ryan cohort was refreshing to Newborn and Patterson, considering Western is a predominantly white institution.
“It was a lovely reminder that the demographic of Western is not the demographic of all theater makers everywhere,” Patterson said.
Separate from his Irene Ryan win, Newborn was awarded a trip to Maine for a workshop with the Encompass Collective, an affinity organization for actors who consider themselves a part of the “Global Majority,” according to its website.
Patternson said the environment at the national festival felt warm and collaborative, pleasantly surprising her and Newborn, given the cohort’s inherently competitive nature.
Going into the Kennedy Center, Newborn was concerned about the political climate due to its leadership's recent, politically driven turnover. In February, the Kennedy Center board elected President Donald Trump as its new chair.
Newborn said the atmosphere was still gratifying, but there was a somber tone overshadowing Kennedy Center employees.
On May 31, the duo will debut a play Patterson wrote in the fall quarter as part of a festival at Western for LGBTQ+ and Asian theater students, with Newborn in a lead role.
Hailey LeRoy (she/he/they) is a campus news reporter for The Front. She is a third-year environmental journalism major. Outside of the newsroom, you can find her skating with the Bellingham Roller Betties, singing choral music, or perfecting elaborate eyeshadow looks. You can reach them at haileyleroy.thefront@gmail.com.
