Theatre major writes winning play in contest

Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance has announced that undergraduate student Venkatesh Thattai '04 has been named the winner of the 2004 Heermans-McCalmon One-Act Playwriting Contest for his manuscript, All in a Name.

Thattai is Cornell's only current double major in theatre and math. He has acted in The Winter's Tale, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Matchmaker, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, and The Comedy of Errors. He has worked backstage on numerous shows and recently served as assistant stage manager for the Schwartz Center production of Antigone.

All in a Name is the hilarious tale of a young man, Hudson, who wakes up with a strange woman in his bed after a night so wild he does not remember anything at all. Describing his play, Thattai insists that "this play is in no way autobiographical."

All in a Name will be presented Friday, March 5, at 4:30 p.m. in the Class of '56 Flexible Theatre at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and will be directed by Joanna Settle, the artistic director for Division 13 Productions in New York City. The play reading is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow. For more information, call 254-ARTS.

The Forbes Heermans and George McCalmon Playwriting Awards were established with a bequest of Forbes Heermans (Class of 1878) and in memory of the late George McCalmon, professor of speech and drama. According to the terms of the bequest, the play should deal with some aspect of life in America.