UNL grad student director to attend national convention

Shannon Cameron is a director.
She was recognized as one of the most promising college directors in the nation at a regional convention in Kansas City last week.
But accolades aside, Shannon Cameron is also an activist with a taste for social justice theater, an actor and a teacher.
'I see theater as a million little problems that need to be solved,' she said. 'There is never a dull moment.'
The Temple Building, the home of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln theater program, has become Cameron's second home over the past year as she works for her master's degree in fine arts.
'I pretty much live and breathe this building,' Cameron said. 'I do much better under stress. I get more work done, and I do better work.'
But she wasn't always a director. First she was a dancer and then an actor, beginning with her first theater performance in the seventh grade.
'I felt like it was something I was successful at on my own,' she said.
She fell in love with theater and found a second family in the drama scene. Her pursuit led her to Webster's Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louis, Mo., but she decided to switch to theater education at Emerson College in Boston, Mass.
After graduating from college with her theater education degree and teaching in Boston, Cameron decided to return to her home of Nebraska. She taught and directed theater for four years at Hastings High School.
'I learned so much and loved working with students,' Cameron said.
'I'm a really passionate teacher as well. That has helped me to become a better person and a better artist.'
But with censorship and constant tight budgets, the classroom proved to be to constraining.
'I decided that if I wanted to do theater, I better dream big,' she said.
Cameron headed back to school with the aim of becoming a professional director.
'From the minute I got a letter from her, I knew she would be great for this program,' said Virginia Smith, Cameron's theater professor and faculty advisor.
'I think it was exactly what she was ready for since she sees herself as being an independent artist and director.'
But Cameron is still a teacher. She directs at Crete High School, is an adjunct professor at Doane College in Crete, Neb., and is a teacher's assistant at UNL.
'I am trying to balance the educational theater world and the professional theater world,' Cameron said. 'You learn so much from teaching, and I don't want to lose that.'
Cameron's theater ambitions stretch far beyond the classroom. She wants to be a professional director in New York City.
'I see theater as a million little problems that need to be solved,' she said. 'There is never a dull moment.'
She was chosen to compete in the directors and choreographers fellowship at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Regional Contest that took place in Kansas City last week. Cameron had to prepare a scene from the play 'Eurydice' by Sarah Ruhl.
'I think she inspired the undergraduates who went along to the conference with her detail, work on this play, energy and positive encouragement,' Smith said.
She won over the judges with her directing skills and will attend the national convention in Washington, D.C., free of charge. Cameron will be one of eight chosen and will have the opportunity to learn from professional directors.
'I've always admired her work. She's really imaginative, and it was just wonderful,' said Bob Bonaventura, a professional director and UNL adjunct professor. 'And it really didn't surprise me that she won.'
Cameron is involved with a plethora of organizations, directs numerous shows and has begun a theater company.
'I have the ambition to keep making headway in this field,' Cameron said.
In her year and a half at UNL, she directed the Theatrix production 'Speech and Debate,' was assistant director and an actress for 'As You Like It,' directed and compiled immigration stories for The Nebraska Immigration Project and directed the 'Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.' She is also workshopping a musical and directing a one-woman show called 'My Name is Rachel Corrie.'
'She works really hard and is not afraid to take risks,' Smith said. 'She is challenged by really hard stuff.'
Cameron is currently focused on taking steps for her future. Her theater company, Justices and Prophets, began last fall. Her company consists of herself and seven multifaceted undergraduate theater students.
'They are all 10 years younger than me, but there is some sort of energy with that,' Cameron said.
The goal of the company is to set up a solid base for UNL theater students who plan on being theater professionals in New York City. But Cameron also believes that the company, a group who shares her passion, will keep her committed to her goal of being a professional director.
'We are really interested in developing new work and re-envisioning classics,' Cameron said. 'We are hoping to affect an audience and get them talking, to cause some sort of change.'
With Cameron's directing degree, which combines theater and film, she hopes to use the digital media from film to create theater that will reignite people's interest in theater and cause a reaction in her audience.
'I'm really interested in social justice theater - that we can use theater to open minds,' she said. 'Theater is not for the timid.'
kaykemmet
@dailynebraskan.com