A team of UConn students was awarded the “World’s Best Design Team” trophy in the World Stage Design Competition 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, for a production of The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde.

Three design students who had submitted sketches for an unrealized production of The Selfish Giant to the competition were invited to Korea. Their trip and the production were supported by the University, the Office of International Affairs, and Jane Henson.

Puppet Arts director Professor Bart Roccoberton and his puppeteers joined with Professor Laura Crow and her design students to create the production, along with their partner Sangmyung University in Seoul. Professor Hye Sook Chang, dean of the design department of Sangmyung University, and Professor Jae Kuen Park, director of the dance program and head of the Seoul Ballet Co., sent students to help with the performance.

Seventeen dancers from Seoul performed, including one who played the Giant, together with three puppeteers from UConn (Fergus Walsh, Lauren Horoszewski, and Rebekah Eyre), and designers Cassandra Beaver, Sachiko Komuro, Elicia Lord, Kevin Thacker, and Jung Ae Yoo. Jung Ae Yoo, a Korean graduate student from UConn who had returned to Korea after gaining her MFA degree, acted as co-coordinator and associate scenic designer. The scenery was built at Kaywon School of Art & Design outside Seoul.

After just two weeks of rehearsal, the production was performed for the first time on the night of the World Stage Design Awards, winning the “World’s Best Design Team” trophy.