The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) National Awards Committee just commended Miami’s Department of Theatre for its production of Rossum’s Universal Robots (R.U.R.: A Radio Play).

The audioplay streamed on YouTube October 15-29, 2021. Through only dialogue, it featured a dystopian perspective on artificial intelligence replacing humanity in the future.

It took home:

-Distinguished Achievement in Voice Work for a Radio Play (The Company)

-Distinguished Achievement for Student-Centered Production (The Company)

-Distinguished Achievement in Special Effects (Michael Ferguson, Trish Grogan, and Chloe Padilla)

-Distinguished Achievement in Performance (Lexi Mangrum-Prokopiof)

-Distinguished Achievement in Dramaturgy (Kelsi Moore) 

-Distinguished Achievement in Technical Direction (Curtis Mortimore) 

-Distinguished Achievement in Sound Design (Shawn Maus and Mike Morgan)

-Distinguished Achievement in Adaptation (Lee Shackleford)

-Distinguished Achievement in Direction (Lewis Magruder)

Thousands of university productions all over the country compete for these honors, making Miami Theatre quite rare. 

Director Lewis Magruder captured the judges’ attention in multiple ways: by readapting the 1920 play into an old-fashioned radio style; by training the actors' voices to reflect the time period; and by delegating some students to the live sound effects. 

On a deeper level, Magruder feels proud of the message he delivered.

“The themes of the play are so very relevant to our world today, raising questions about how we treat those who do hard and necessary labor,” Magruder said. 

Celebrate the coming citations from KCACTF, presented at an appropriate occasion soon.