{"id":214,"date":"2025-11-22T22:26:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T22:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/?page_id=214"},"modified":"2025-11-22T23:53:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T23:53:27","slug":"the-ed-ro-char-memorial-award","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/about-the-festival\/the-ed-ro-char-memorial-award\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ed-Ro-Char Memorial Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ed-Ro-Char Award for Technical Excellence
\nEstablished in 1996<\/h2>\n

Ed Payne <\/b>was an architect who enjoyed using his design skills to create innovative sets within the parameters of the playwright’s intent, the director’s thrust and the limitations of the stage. He designed sets and lights, directed and was a fine actor and singer as well. Ed worked with many of the theatre companies in the Washington Metropolitan area.<\/p>\n

Robert “Rolo” Nickerson <\/b>was a mentor and coach to many of the actors and technicians in the area. He worked with many groups, including The Burtonsville Players, Prince George\u2019s Little Theatre, Rockville Musical Theatre and The Adelphians. He appeared with Ed Payne many times and excelled in the technical aspects of theatre craft.<\/p>\n

Char Harre <\/b>was a brilliant costume designer as well as a director, actress and set designer. Char knew what look would be right for what scene and how to achieve that look on a shoestring budget. She worked with almost all the groups in the area at one time or another, especially when she owned a costume shop in Hyattsville<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Ed-Ro-Char Recipients<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Year<\/b><\/td>\nRecipient\/Group<\/b><\/td>\nProduction<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1996<\/td>\nJane Wingard \/ The Pasadena Theatre Company<\/td>\nHome At Six<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1997<\/td>\nCheryl Anne Costa \/ Silver Spring Stage<\/td>\nThe Berdache<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1998<\/td>\nJack Sbarbori \/ Silver Spring Stage<\/td>\nMidnight Caller<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1999<\/td>\nLori Murray Sampson \/ Silver Spring Stage<\/td>\nTracking Angel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2000<\/td>\nStephanie Mumford \/ Silver Spring Stage<\/td>\nA Little Trick<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2001<\/td>\nJeff Merritt \/ Port Tobacco Players<\/td>\nTone Clusters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2002<\/td>\nRichard and Deanne Highby \/ Port Tobacco Players<\/td>\nLone Star<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2003<\/td>\nBridget Muehlberger \/ Silver Spring Stage<\/td>\nSticks and Stones<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2004<\/td>\nSpence Watson \/ Thurmont Thespians<\/td>\nTalking With<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2005<\/td>\nSpence Watson \/ Thurmont Thespians<\/td>\nBake Off<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2006<\/td>\nSpence Watson \/ Thurmont Thespians<\/td>\nFoul Territory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2007<\/td>\nSpence Watson \/ Thurmont Thespians<\/td>\nRounding Third<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2008<\/td>\nMontgomery Playhouse<\/td>\nThe Last Good Night<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2009<\/td>\nSpence Watson \/ Thurmont Thespians<\/td>\nAlmost Maine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2010<\/td>\nThe Newtowne Players<\/td>\nButterfly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2011<\/td>\nPort Tobacco Players<\/td>\nFerry Boat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2012<\/td>\nMontgomery Playhouse<\/td>\nPillow Talk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2013<\/td>\nSpence Watson \/ Thurmont Thespians<\/td>\nGidion’s Knot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2014<\/td>\nBob Scott \/ Silver Spring Stage<\/td>\nThe Widow of Tom’s Hill<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2015<\/td>\nJeff Merritt and John Merritt \/ Port Tobacco Players<\/td>\nSuperhero Sanitarium<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2017<\/td>\nRick Thompson \/ New Direction Community
\nTheater<\/td>\n		The Helpless Director Zone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2018<\/td>\nJennifer Cooper \/ Colonial Players<\/td>\nThe Universal Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2020<\/td>\nDesign Team \/ Port Tobacco Players<\/td>\nTrue Colors<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2022<\/td>\nBruce Hirsch<\/td>\nThe Last Nickel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2023<\/td>\nRockville Little Theatre<\/td>\nPride@Prejudice<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024<\/td>\nRockville Little Theatre<\/td>\nFuneral for the Cat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2025<\/td>\nArindam Ghosh \/ Ebong TheatriX<\/td>\nAvinash<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ed-Ro-Char Award for Technical Excellence Established in 1996 Ed Payne was an architect who enjoyed using his design skills to create innovative sets within the parameters of the playwright’s intent, the director’s thrust and the limitations of the stage. He designed sets and lights, directed and was a fine actor and singer as well….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":63,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-214","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214\/revisions\/219"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mctfa.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}