By William H. Kelly III
Jackson State University’s (JSU) Department of Speech Communication & Theatre returns to JSU with over five awards and two national officer positions after taking center stage during the 86th Annual National Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts Conference (NASDSA). Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, hosted this year’s conference on April 3-6.
Joined by MADDRAMA Performance Troupe, the Department of Speech & Theatre set a new milestone with 30 students traveling to represent the institution at the national conference, making it one of the largest groups of students to attend the conference outside of Mississippi, according to Mark G. Henderson, Ph.D., interim chair for the Department of Speech Communication & Theatre. He also extended appreciation to the MADDRAMA and speech & theatre alumni for their support and JSU’s Title III Program.
“I continue to try to attend because it’s a different experience when our students get to go and compete against students from other HBCUs who share similar experiences and appreciation for theatre,” said Henderson. “The different workshops allow the students to better understand their journey as future African-American theatre practitioners.”
Students participated in several rounds of competitive speaking and performance events ranging from duo-acting to persuasive speaking, dramatic monologue, and more. The young performers rehearsed for nearly three weeks, preparing for the competition. Though it was challenging, the reward was worth it.
Timothy Magee began his matriculation as a transfer junior at JSU during the Spring 2024 semester and is pursuing a degree in theatre. He says he was proud to witness his peers succeed and that his experience at NADSA inspired him to “branch out and navigate into other paths that will supplement my career.”
“I think specifically in my own creativity and artistry; it’s definitely pushed me to be very proactive in my own research and development of forming my characters or forming my process outside of rehearsal. I think that’s very important to everyone as an artist, but more specifically as an actor. The work I do at home is so important,” Magee said.
He participated in the persuasive speaking category and walked away with the third-place trophy in the duo-acting competition alongside his peer Chandler Carter for their performance of a scene from the play Almost Maine.
Carter and Magee were among four JSU students selected as NADSA’s 2024 All-Star Cast. Conference judges choose the all-star cast based on participants’ overall performance in plays and productions throughout the competition.
“I was honored, and I feel highly favored because, a lot of times, we tend to doubt ourselves. Being here in this space while seeing other people who really care about the art, the crowd, and wanting to be better gave me a whole new perspective to stop trying to close the lens of what you could possibly do through theater,” said Carter, a junior speech communications student, and member of MADDRAMA.
“It opened my mind to it being more than just theater. You could do voice acting, you could do stage management. It just opened my mind to so many more possibilities.”
Koreyan Black is a freshman political science student who recently joined MADDRAMA. As a kid, she had an interest in the performing arts but was unable to get involved. Now, “it’s like a dream come true.”
“It made me want it more. Oh my God. I just remember being in the audience, and I was like, ‘Everybody is so good, and everybody is so cool.’ Everybody just has so much talent and so much charisma,” Black said. You can see how much people care for the art form. It just makes you want to bathe in it. I just love being in the environment.”
The complete list of awards and recognitions from the 2024 conference are as listed below:
- 1st Place in Play Production (‘Succession’ written by Charles White) – Chandler Carter, Timothy Magee, Cody Powell, Addae Lane, Kaylyn Johnson, and Isaac Grimes as the cast, with Donovan Robbins, Javion Lyons, and Makayla Williams serving as the technical crew.
- 1st Place in Reader’s Theatre (‘Crash’ Alcohol Awareness on College Campus) – Alexandria Williams, Aniya George, Benjamin Lewis, Cody Powell, Devin Dotey, Isaac Grimes, Jakobie Jackson, Jamarcus Davis, Kadeem Bilal, Kaylyn Johnson, Koreyan Black, Sheryl Wilson, Stanley Powell, Ashley Tangle, Antoinne Sellers, Tyshia Frazier, and Adrian Ross.
- 2nd Place in Oral Interpretation of Prose (‘Pomp and Circumstance’) – Devin Dotey
- 2nd Place in Oral Interpretation of Poetry (‘Bloody Mary’) – Heaven Lemotey
- 3rd Place in Duo-Acting (‘Almost Maine’) – Chandler Carter and Timothy Magee
- NADSA All-Star Cast – Cody Powell, Timothy Magee, Kaylyn Johnson, and Chandler Carter.
- National President – Cody Powell
- Parliamentarian – Alexandria Williams
NADSA was founded in 1936 by Sheppard Randolph Edmonds, a nationally known playwright, director, and teacher revered as the Dean of Black Educational Theatre. NADSA is also recognized as the oldest educational theatre organization in the United States and is responsible for educating generations of Black storytellers, actors, stage, television, and film writers, costume, lighting, scene designers, talk show hosts, producers, directors, and other performers.
Prominent NADSA alumni include Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Erykah Badu, Oprah Winfrey and Chadwick Boseman.
“I was so proud that they worked hard. Whether they got a trophy or not, if I saw that they worked hard and did what they had to do, I’m proud,” said Henderson, the founder and artistic director of MADDRAMA Performance Troupe.
The 87th NADSA conference is scheduled to be hosted in 2025 by Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.
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