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.