ORU Director of Theatre named Outstanding Theatre Educator
Oral Roberts University Director of Theatre Courtneay Sanders was recently awarded
the 2009 Ruth Arrington Outstanding College Theatre Educator Award by the Oklahoma
Speech Theatre Communication Association.
Sanders is co-founder of Tulsa's Playhouse Theatre, a professional theatre company,
with fellow ORU faculty member and alumnus Chris Crawford. Sanders has recently appeared
in Playhouse Theatre productions of Romeo and Juliet (Nurse) and Lend Me a Tenor (Director
& Diana). After graduating from ORU in 2002 with her bachelor of science degree in
drama/television and film performance, Sanders went on to receive her master of fine
arts in acting from the University of Arkansas in 2006.
"Courtneay continues to raise the standards that students expect of themselves in the classroom and on the stage when she's teaching and directing for ORU. She initiated our first-ever faculty showcase and performed the lead character. She initiated our first production off the ORU campus, taking the show to Tulsa's downtown Performing Arts Center and raising the awareness of our program to the Tulsa community," said Denise Miller, OSTCA member and ORU communications, arts and media faculty member who nominated Sanders for the award.
While on faculty at ORU, Sanders has directed productions such as: The Comedy of Errors, Three Days of Rain, The Mousetrap, and Moonlight and Magnolias.
Sanders is a member of Christians in Theatre Arts and has taught acting at their national conferences in Chicago and Los Angeles. She has worked throughout her career with Shakespeare and Co, Dallas Shakespeare, Lafayette Playhouse and TheatreSquared. Some of her regional acting credits include: Boy Gets Girl (Theresa), Twelfth Night (Olivia), The Night of the Iguana (Maxine), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Capulet), Anton in Show Business (Casey), and The Importance of Being Earnest (Gwendolen Fairfax).
The Ruth Arrington Outstanding College Theatre Educator Award was established in 1987 in honor of Ruth Arrington, longtime theatre professor at Northeastern State University and creator of the Native American Studies program at NSU. Sanders will receive her award at the OSTCA conference on Sept. 19.