The American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) has announced the recipients of their 2026 National Production Awards and Meritorious Commendations—and CSUDH’s Department of Theatre and Dance were big winners.
CSUDH’s production of Clyde’s, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, was honored with 15 awards by the ACTF. The play was staged at the Edison Theatre in October, 2025.
The National Production Awards are given out each year to recognize outstanding achievement in collegiate theater across the United States. Selected from hundreds of productions performed at colleges and universities across the country in 2025, the award-winning works represent the highest level of creative excellence at the collegiate level.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the students, faculty, and staff who worked on the production. It was flat-out one of the best theatrical productions that I have ever seen,” said Tim Caron, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.
“Our students keep reaching new heights of technical theatre. Somehow they create amazing technical features for each production, but they never seem gimmicky. Each technical marvel that they create is in service to the larger story that is being told and the themes that the playwright is exploring.”
CSUDH’s production was awarded the organization’s Citizen Artist Award, which “recognize programs in higher education using theatrical production to promote long-term societal impact in artistic terms, encouraging empathetic exploration of the complex cultural and physical world, and advocating for justice on campus and throughout the world.”
The production also took home honors for:
Outstanding Production of a Play
Distinguished Scenic Design: Brittany Bodley
Outstanding Performance in a Play: Carol Alana, Kevin Mendez, Norene Flowers
Distinguished Performance in a Play: Jaime Banuelos
Outstanding Performance and Production Ensemble
Distinguished Lighting Design: Matthew Wukman
Outstanding Direction of a Play: Jozben Barrett
Distinguished Costume Design: Yesenia Correa-Soltero
Distinguished Sound Design: Angelica Mejia
Outstanding Production Design
Outstanding Performance Ensemble
Meritorious Commendations were given to:
Prop Manager/Artisan: Andre Polo
Intimacy Direction: Kelly Herman
Stage Management Team: Alexander Braddock, Wynetta Carter, Jabari Williams Jr.
Performance: Jeremiah Simpson
Bravery in Performance: Jaime Banuelos
Comedic Physical Performance: Carol Alana
