Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2006-11-08

A Samford University senior and a recent graduate have been chosen to participate in one of the theatre design community's most important international events.

Laura Cassidy Ratzlaff, a May, 2006, graduate, and Cari Catherine Short, a senior, were selected from hundreds of entrants to show their work at the 2007 Prague Quadrennial (PQ).

Their works will be part of the U.S. Institute of Theatre Technology's PQ USA national exhibit, which includes work from professional and student designers deemed to represent the concept of "New Voices, New Visions: Out of the Box."

The PQ will be held in June in Prague, Czech Republic.

Selections were based on the work of theatre artists who have redefined the art and pushed it to its limits, through unique visions and impeccable techniques.

Ratzlaff, one of 14 professional sound designers chosen for the National Exhibit, will present the original sound design she created for Samford Theatre's fall, 2005 production of Shadowlands.. A Samford senior theatre major when she worked on the project, she now teaches English at Kingswood Christian Academy in Alabaster.

Short, a Samford senior theatre major from Nashville, Tenn., will present the scene design she created for Shadowlands in the student exhibit.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.