Drama Award

Eldridge playwright R. Rex Stephenson, Professor of Drama at Ferrum (VA) College, was recognized recently during the 58th Annual Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) in Atlanta, receiving the prestigious SETC Sara Spencer Child Drama Award. Stephenson is considered one of the most published children's playwrights in Virginia. Jeffrey M. Revels, Education Director, and Associate Artistic Director for the Orlando Repertory Theatre, presented the award. He talked about the broad range of themes Rex has dramatized in his plays, from the historical and religious to adaptations of great literature, as well as the innovative methods he has used to create engaging drama. He highlighted Rex’s influence on children’s drama as the founder and artistic director of America’s longest, continuously running children’s theatre troupe, The Jack Tales. Most recently Eldridge has published Rex’s adaptation of Kipling’s “Just So Stories,” available both as a musical and straight play.