Posted on February 17, 2004 at 4:43 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) theatre student Erin Thompson will compete in the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) in Washington, D.C., in April. She recently won at the regional festival in Birmingham.

UAB, with assistance from Birmingham-Southern College and Samford University, hosted the Region IV Kennedy Center ACTF February 3-8.

Thompson, 21, a senior from Birmingham, won the Barbizon Excellence in Lighting Design Award for her design for Theatre UAB’s production of “The Body of a Woman as a Battlefield in the Bosnian War.” She was one of 48 students nominated for the award in the region. Thompson will travel to Washington, D.C., to present her design for consideration for the national award. Along with the other seven regional winners, she will participate in a week of workshops with several Broadway designers.

“Metamorphoses” is being considered for the national festival, said Marc Powers, chairman of the UAB Department of Theatre. It was one of six full-length productions from the 11-state region that was invited to perform at the regional festival. The decision on national finalists will be made after the last regional festival is completed in two weeks.

“To use a sports analogy, being selected for the regional festival is the equivalent to making it to the Big Dance. Being held in consideration is the equivalent to making the Sweet Sixteen. In two weeks, we discover whether or not we made it to the Final Four,” Powers said.