Fifty ISU Theatre students, faculty, and staff traveled to Minnesota in January for the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) Region 5 conference. Showcasing their skills alongside peers from over 75 Midwestern colleges and universities, two Iowa State students received prestigious national finalist awards. Here’s a look at the award-winning work of Kyrstin Holmes and Fiona Addy.
A union of ideas
Kyrstin Holmes (’27 graphic design) is an experienced performing artist with a dozen ISU Theatre credits. But one area of theatre surprised her.
“Dramaturgy wasn’t necessarily something on my radar,” she said. “I had never heard of it in high school.”
Dramaturgs are professionals who help create context for a play’s world. Their roles vary and might include conducting historical research, organizing community conversations, or designing educational materials.
Holmes became interested in theatrical research while analyzing her roles as a cast member in ISU Theatre’s productions of “The Crucible” and “Fixing Troilus and Cressida.” She then applied for a dramaturgy position for ISU Theatre’s fall 2025 production of “Urinetown: The Musical,” a new-to-her experience that earned her national recognition.
As the dramaturg, Holmes worked alongside the director and creative team over a period of six months, witnessing how a production evolves from early concepts to opening night.
“Seeing how it all became a union was the most interesting [part],” she said. “All these separate ideas became one piece of theatre and one experience.”
Holmes researched the script and themes to create a comprehensive 85-page packet of text, photos, and video resources for the ISU Theatre cast and crew. It included background on topics such as epic theatre, an overview of modern water and ecological issues, song breakdowns, and more.
She also transformed the Fisher Theater lobby for the show, with custom art, informational displays, toilet-papered stairwells, and even mock revolutionary graffiti scrawled on restroom mirrors. Holmes submitted her dramaturgy packet to ACTF Region 5 last fall and was named the Region 5 national finalist for dramaturgy at the January conference.
“Seeing how it all became a union was the most interesting part. All these separate ideas became one piece of theatre and one experience.”
“Everyone started screaming around me, like all the Iowa State people,” she recalled. “It was a bit of a rush, because I didn’t really realize it was happening until it was actively happening.”
Holmes said she was surprised by how much she enjoyed dramaturgy and how well it aligns with her design background. As part of her award, she was connected to a professional dramaturg and mentor from New York and received resources from Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
In pursuit of knowledge
When Fiona Addy (’26 performing arts) decided to enter ACTF’s Stage Directors and Choreographers Society scene direction category, it meant she also needed to find a cast willing to support her.
To get started, Addy selected a play excerpt from an ACTF list, analyzed the script, and cast a trio of Iowa State peers: Jordan Harvey (’29 performing arts), Jordyn Johnstad (’26 performing arts), and Kiernan McReynolds (’26 performing arts).
“While they are in the middle of a show, they’re taking three hours out of a day to work with me,” she said of her cast. “Everyone that I’ve worked with has done such an amazing job, and I never would have been able to do it without them.”
“Knowledge is always something to pursue. And when we do it as a community, it’s such a beautiful thing.”
Addy’s excerpt from the 19th-century naturalist play “Miss Julie,” by Swedish playwright August Strindberg, showcased the complex and passionate relationships in a twisted, tragic love affair.
“That was a genre I hadn’t really worked with up until that point,” she said. “With the time period and it being a translation – I cannot read Swedish – I tried really hard in my analysis to understand the terms and phrases that were really popular. Like what was the class system of the time, and how did that impact these relationships?”
Addy directed the scene for two rounds of feedback from a responding panel at the regional conference. Learning that she was named the Region 5 national finalist for directing was an emotional moment.
“And then they’re like ‘The fellowship goes to Iowa State University,’ and I just put my head in my lap, and I sobbed,” she said. “I could not get up for a couple of seconds.”
Addy has loved acting and film studies from a young age, and at Iowa State, she has broadened her artistic interests by studying topics such as theatrical production, French fairy tales, and art history. The ACTF award gave her new confidence, and now she is doing a directing fellowship at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwright Conference this summer. It also inspired her to keep learning, something she said the ISU Theatre community does well together.
“Knowledge is always something to pursue. And when we do it as a community, it’s such a beautiful thing.”