Baldwin's Camryn Lyttleton reflects on performing at Kennedy Center Regional Festival

Camryn Lyttleton, 18, didn’t see herself going into acting growing up. But when she was a freshman at Baldwin High School, a classmate persuaded her to get involved in the school’s theater program.

Since then, acting has become more than just an extracurricular activity for Lyttleton: She was one of six Nassau Community College students selected as finalists in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s Region 1 event in New Britain, Connecticut, Jan. 30-Feb. 4.

“I always found it very therapeutic how the most talented actors can switch to different characters,” said Lyttleton, who is majoring in acting at NCC. “It’s just so therapeutic being on stage.”

Each year, KCACTF extends invitations to nearly 18,000 students across the nation, giving them the opportunity to showcase theatrical performances, present original works or adaptations, and vie for scholarship. The initial stage consists of eight regional festivals. Lyttleton and her NCC peers competed in Region 1, which encompasses Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

At the regional festivals, roughly 125 regional champions in categories including performance and dramaturgy earned invitations to the 2024 KCACTF National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April.

Lyttleton was nominated to compete for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, and performed two monologues, with an opportunity to win a $500 scholarship. The student nominees were asked to record themselves before making the trip. The finalists were announced at the Regional Festival, and were asked to perform the monologues in person.

Lyttleton performed “Orion,” by Matthew McLaughlin, playing the part of Abigail, and “The Eight,” by Jeff Goode, performing as Vixen.

“It was slightly intimidating,” Lyttleton said of performing. “But it wasn’t anything that was prohibiting my performance, I would say. I’ve never really been in a setting where I’ve worked with people who are better or equal to me.”

One performer from each region was invited to the national festival. Lyttleton was not chosen, but, she said, the festival was a great place to make connections.

“Not only did I have the opportunity to work with so many talented people, I also had the opportunity to work with higher-up people in the industry, giving us critiques,” she said. “That was pretty effective.”

One of them was Micah Elijah, a New York City-based actor, singer, dancer and Obie Award winner.

“Nassau Community College is the only A.A. degree program in acting in New York State,” Richard Ginsburg, chair of the college’s theatre and dance department, wrote in a news release. “Because of this, our students have the opportunity to perform in live theater more than most four-year colleges. This helps focus their abilities, accelerates their artistic growth and helps create close bonds with our faculty and staff.”

The experience was rewarding for her, Lyttleton said, because she had developed from an introverted student in the Baldwin school district into a performer in the theater program at NCC.

“I did see myself develop, as far as getting out of my shell,” she said. “I felt like I built that confidence coming from high school to Nassau.”