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Principians Take the Stage and Bring Home the Hardware

Six current College students and one recent graduate recently attended the prestigious American College Theatre Festival in Madison, Wisconsin and returned home with an impressive array of achievements and awards.

Ekene Cindy Obi-Njoku, João Pedro Coelho Ribeiro, Richard Keyes, and Arale Septiaheny all competed in the Irene Ryan acting competition, performing scenes and monologues. Participants are selected from hundreds of students seen in productions over the last year from four states. Over the course of the festival, over 300 competitors are narrowed down to sixteen pairs. Undergraduates compete alongside graduate students from dozens of schools including University of Michigan, Illinois State, University of Wisconsin, and SIUE. Obi-Njoke, with her scene partner João Ribeiro, competed as a finalist on the stage at Madison Technical College, winning the Classical Acting Award for her outstanding performance as Lady MacBeth. This is just the second time a Principia student has earned this rare honor, after Carolina Couto (C'19) received the award in 2019. The students were coached by professors Chrissy Steele and Trish Schmit (C'91) and visiting professor Riley Capp (C'19).

 Another important honor was earned by Caroline Atukunda, a Performing Arts major who is professor Leah McFall’s (US'89, C'93) assistant costumer. Caroline earned a Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Costume Design for her work in the Fall 2025 production of The Three Musketeers, directed by Trish Schmit.  Caroline also was selected to have her work featured in the opening night ceremony, during which selected schools performed scenes and showcased costumes from associate productions.  he costumes were presented by Arale Septiaheny, Gideon Fugman, Richard Keyes, Ekene Cindy Obi-Njoku, and guest student Olivia Steele from the University of Toronto.

Other honors from this festival included the following Certificates of Merit:

  • From The Three Musketeers, Principia post-graduate teaching intern Brianna Shipley (US'21, C'25) received Excellence in Lighting Design;
  • Visiting professor Riley Capp was honored with Excellence in Fight Direction/Choreography;
  • Professor Trish Schmit received Excellence in Directing;
  • Gavin McFall (US'21, C'25) earned Excellence in Lighting Design for his lighting and projection work in the Spring 2025 production of Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Chrissy Steele
  • Arale Septiaheny participated as a member of the ACTF Student Council, and was a semi-finalist in the 2025 Irene Ryan competition.

Award-winner Carolina Atukunda summed up the experience by saying, “I realized that being part of a creative community means showing up for others, not just performing or presenting yourself. That teamwork matters just as much. Overall, this whole experience reminded me that what we do really matters. Theater has the power to connect people, build empathy, and bring meaning to our lives. Whether I’m designing costumes, teaching, or just helping behind the scenes, I see now how I can use those skills to contribute to something bigger, and that is something I want to keep doing wherever I go.”

Congratulations, Principians!