UNM Department of Theatre and Dance to Represent the US in International Theatre Festival, Beijing China

The University of New Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to announce their participation in the 2024 Asia Theatre Education Centre (ATEC) Theatre Festival, hosted by The Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, China.

The ATEC Theatre Festival, founded in 2005, is a bi-annual event that showcases plays from top theatre schools across Asia, South America, North America, and Australia. The festival currently includes 17 member schools, with the Department of Theatre and Dance of The University of New Mexico as the sole US participant. In past festivals, UNM students have been earned major festival awards, including “Best Actor” to Theatre Major Eboni Thompson in 2016.

UNM suspended participation from 2020-2023 due to COVID, and 2024 will be their first year returning to the festival.

The 2024 entry in the festival is an original work by Katherine Farmin, a student playwright enrolled in UNM’s MFA in Dramatic Writing program. The play, Sink, premiered at the Fall 2023 Linnell Festival of New Plays. The production is directed by Rhiannon Frazier (UNM alumna in Theatre ’15) and stars current Theatre majors Jayla Franklin-Sullivan, Hannah Miles, and Wolfrum Maikranz. The play is a delightfully disturbing romp into alternate timelines and multiverses with an emphasis on the physical interpretation of the play’s themes.

The festival runs from May 17- 24 2024 in Beijing. Students and the Sink creative team will travel to China to participate in workshops and research, connect with theatre artists from around the world, and perform Sink as part of ATEC’s programming and cultural exchange.

Follow the UNM Department of Theatre & Dance on Instagram @unmtheatredance for updates on the festival and more!