Cuesta receives national awards for production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 

When bree valle heard that the production her students had just put on had received national recognition, she rushed to tell everybody in her vicinity.

"I was like, 'Yahoo!'" valle said with a laugh. "I was so excited running and telling everyone I knew."

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• Photo Courtesy Of bree valle
• GROUP RECOGNITION The team for the Cuesta College Theatre Program's production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time received 11 national awards.

The artistic director for the Cuesta College Theatre Program is just one part of an ensemble of talented individuals who received awards for their roles in the production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The play ran this past winter at Cuesta and was performed at the Kennedy Center American College Festival in April in Las Vegas at the Westgate Resort.

The festival is a three-day event focused on highlighting the theatrical accomplishments of schools from around Central and Southern California.

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• Photo Courtesy Of bree valle
• SETTING THE STAGE Students from Cuesta and other schools at the Kennedy Center American College Festival worked together to build a stage to perform on.

"It's an interesting experience for many of these students—many of them had never been out of state," valle said. "So to be able to perform at the same hotel where Elvis used to perform was a wild experience."

The experience was surreal not only because of the star-studded Las Vegas lights, but also because of what the students did in order to perform at the festival.

"They told us, 'If you do a show here, we can't afford supplies for a stage and lighting because of the size of the room and Vegas stage laws,'" valle said. "So we looked at each other and said why don't we just make a stage ourselves?"

Together with the other five schools that were invited to the festival, Cuesta students built a fully functioning stage—including lights, drapes, and audience seating—in 24 hours, and it was fully compatible with each school's unique performance.

"It was a great moment of community and collaboration for art's sake," valle said. "These students not only had a chance to show their work but show it on a stage they made."

Cuesta's production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won a total of 11 awards, including Distinguished Production Design, Distinguished Director of a Play given to valle, and Outstanding Performance by an Actor for Dylan Hahn who played the main character, Christopher.

Valle says Hahn's performance as Christopher is not only deserving of the award but also emblematic of his skills as an actor overall.

"Dylan is neurodivergent so he gives the character of Christopher—who is on the autism spectrum—a great perspective and emotion you can't get otherwise," she said. "I've taught at Cuesta for almost 25 years, and I have never seen any student close to the skill level of acting he is at."

Alongside Hahn, two other members of the cast also won awards for their acting prowess: Jordan Michel and Harlow Winterfire, former students of valle's who returned to finish their degrees after several years away from Cuesta.

"I started the program at a very pivotal time in my life—it was part of me growing up from that immature high schooler and into an adult—but then I left and moved on from that life, moving out of the Central Coast, marrying, and having kids," Michel said. "I felt myself craving a role like this, so when bree reached out, the timing made sense. There was a magic in the air."

For valle, the experience was also a moment for her to reflect on the impact events like this could have on her current students.

"Our students after the show were walking through the hotel, and we wouldn't get more than 5 feet without people walking up saying things like, 'Oh my God! You were in Curious!" valle said. "Theater people are very competitive, so it was cool to still be recognized for our efforts by everyone around us, and to be honest we felt like rock stars."

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• Photo Courtesy Of bree valle
• COOPERATION AND CAMARADERIE Artistic Director of the Cuesta College Theatre Program bree valle credits the recent awards, in part, to the community support the program has received.

She's hopeful that this will give her students the confidence to make the jump to more professional paid performances—something she is planning to help with. The show is slated to perform outside of the Cuesta drama program later this year so the performers can be paid for their roles.

"It's much easier for student musicians to get paid outside of the program via gigs, but for theater students, they have a harder time making money doing actual theater outside of the program," she said. "If we can have an actual production going in the fall that allows these actors and production crew to be paid for their award-winning work—that's a bridge for students that can help tie them to the professional world."

But valle also wants to highlight that beyond the awards and future performances, the most important thing that's come from everything is the sense of community that the program fostered.

"Everything we did, from the original performances to going to Vegas and building a stage on our own, was because we knew we had that community and support to back us up emotionally and financially," she said. "I think we showcased that sense of community to everyone at that festival.

"Sure, awards are nice, but that path and support you get on the road to winning them is just as important." Δ

Staff Writer Adrian Vincent Rosas is excited to see the play for a second time in the fall. Reach him at [email protected].