Luke Niznik and Braeden Smith are heading to Austin after advancing to the state competition for UIL Theatrical Design. The competition will take place on Monday, May 18.
The UIL Theatrical design competition challenges students to demonstrate both artistic creativity and technical understanding. The theme for this year’s competition is “Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”
Niznik is a junior and is advancing in Hair and Makeup Design.
The Hair and Makeup design contest is a visual and written design project for a play, in which you create the specific hair and makeup look based on the characters in a story. The judges are looking for connection to the script, creativity and originality, historical/cultural accuracy, clarity/neatness, and a strong explanation of your choice.
“It’s a design competition where you are given a show and prompt, and then you have to create a concept for the show,” Niznik said.
Going to state is extremely rare; only the top 1-3% of competitors advance to state. This means that going to state is at an elite level for high school students, because judges are looking for college-level thinking (strong concepts, detailed reasoning, and clean visuals).
“It’s crazy to think about because I never thought I would go to state for anything, so it’s exciting but stressful,” Niznik said.
Smith is a senior and is advancing in Marketing for UIL Theatrical Design for the second year in a row.
The marketing contest is different compared to the Hair and Makeup design contest because, instead of creating things, you act like a promoter of the material through things like posters, social media ads, or playbill covers that represent the show. The judges look for creativity, strong visual impact, clear connection to script, and a cohesive design, showing how well your design would actually sell the production to viewers.
“The marketing UIL Theatrical design contest is where you design for a show. I do marketing for my designs, and it is all across Texas,” Smith said. “It’s exciting and a lot of pressure (going back to state). It’s also very rewarding because I’m the first person to go twice.”
