February 9, 2024
By Shannon Musgrave
Each yr, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) honors practitioners of theater design and expertise who excel of their fields. This yr, the 66th annual convention and stage expo will happen in Seattle, Washington, the place 5 artists from the School of Drama might be acknowledged for his or her exemplary work.
Professor Susan Tsu will obtain the Distinguished Achievement Award for Costume Design. The Distinguished Achievement Awards honor people who’ve established meritorious profession data in particular fields of experience in any space of design or expertise within the performing arts or leisure trade.
Before she started her illustrious profession as a dressing up designer, Tsu earned each her BFA and MFA levels proper right here at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. She went on to design at over 45 theater firms throughout the U.S. and in venues all around the world. She headed the costume applications at Boston University and the University of Texas at Austin earlier than returning to the School of Drama as a school member in 2003.
Tsu has been affiliated with USITT since her early days as a younger designer, when she was invited to be a part of the U.S. delegation touring to China to present a presentation concerning the state of theater within the United States. Since then, “USITT’s International activities have changed my life,” she says.
One of essentially the most impactful USITT applications Tsu has been a part of is the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design (PQ), for which she has served as a helper, co-Curator or Artistic Director because the early Nineteen Nineties.
“In my view, the PQ is the single most important activity that USITT engages in, as the sponsor of the USA National and Emerging exhibitions in Prague,” Tsu says. “We are somewhat removed, in the USA, from what is going on in the rest of the world, and the opportunity to introduce our theater professionals and students to the many inspiring ways in which people regard and make theater in other countries can open minds and change lives. When we learn about the creativity, hopes and fears of others, we gain knowledge and compassion, and as theater people commenting on the human condition in our productions, our voices and visions can effect change one drop at a time.”