Theatre student wins major scholarship

Brinley Arden Vickers of Morehead City, a student in the East Carolina University Department of Theatre Arts who has done professional stage, film and television acting, is the winner of the first North Carolina Theatre Conference Undergraduate Scholarship. The scholarship consists of an unrestricted grant of $2,000 toward the expenses of the recipient’s studies.

The NCTC scholarship was established as a competitive award for selected junior or senior drama students in North Carolina on the basis of demonstrated professional potential in the theatre arts field. Awards to a winning student will be made in alternate years at the N.C. Theatre Conference meeting. Vickers received her scholarship at the recent NCTC meeting in Winston-Salem.

“This is an outstanding achievement which reflects well not only upon Brinley and her excellent work both in acting and stage management, but also on the department,” commented John Shearin, chair of the ECU theatre arts department.

“We both congratulate her and thank her for her superior accomplishments as a student in, and representative of, the ECU Department of Theatre Arts,” Shearin said.

Vickers has appeared in numerous productions of the East Carolina Playhouse during her student years at ECU, most recently appearing as the female lead in the Playhouse production of J.B. She has also served as stage manager for campus theatrical productions and is currently stage managing the ECU Dance Theatre series, Dance ’97.

In addition to her work with ECU dramatic productions, she has appeared in productions of the Opera House Theatre Company in Wilmington, on an episode of the TV series Matlock and had a role as Julia Roberts’ friend Liz in the Þlm Something To Talk About.. She performed the role of the hairdresser in a new TV film, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, starring Connie Selleca and Twiggy, which is the be aired by CBS this spring.

Upon graduation from ECU this May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting, Vickers plans to continue her drama studies at the master’s degree level.

She is a graduate of West Carteret High School and the daughter of Larry and Karen Vickers of Morehead City.