'Gun' Merits Awards
Production recognized for ensemble work, stage management, and musical direction
The Holyoke Community College Theater Department’s fall 2025 production of “The Last Living Gun” received three awards at the recent American College Theater Festival in Albany, New York.
Collectively, the cast and crew of “The Last Living Gun” earned a merit award for Ensemble Work. The play by Ryan Stevens follows a mercenary across a post-apocalyptic landscape on an epic quest to find the last gun in existence. The show was guest-directed by Cordelia Winters Dwyer, a graduate student from the University of Massachusetts Theater program.
HCC students Ivy Wrenne Demetriou, of Holyoke, and Toby Stearns, of Southampton, received individual merit awards for their work as stage manager and musical director, respectively. Stearns also performed in the production as an actor and musician.
“I'm extremely proud of everyone's work on “The Last Living Gun,” and we are very grateful for the recognition from the American College Theater Festival,” said Matt Whiton, chair of the HCC Theater Program, who also served as stage designer and production manager for the play.
HCC belongs to ACTF Region I, whose 2026 festival was held in January in Albany and hosted by Siena College. Region I includes colleges and universities in northern New York and all six New England states. Awards are based on the recommendations of respondents, who travel around the country to view college theater productions and offer critiques. The American College Theater Festival previously fell under the auspices of the Kennedy Center and was known as the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, but it is now independent.
The HCC Theater Department has won more than 20 ACTF awards over the past 15 years in multiple categories, including individual acting, ensemble acting, dedication to a script, stage management, musical direction, best original music, playwriting, and collaboration.
The department puts on two full productions each academic year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Rehearsals are now underway for the spring 2026 production of “Dust,” by Danielle Mohlman and directed by HCC theater professor Fig Lefevre. “Dust” will be performed April 16-18 in HCC’s Leslie Phillips Theater, with nightly performances at 7:30 p.m. and an additional 2 p.m. matinee on April 18.
PHOTOS: Scenes from the HCC Theater Department's Fall 2025 production of "The Last Living Gun."
