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THE JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Education Department In addition to presenting and producing the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for the past 35 years, the Kennedy Center takes a leadership role in national performing arts education policy and programs; commissioning, creating, and touring performances for students, teachers, adults, and families; offering professional development opportunities in the arts for teachers; developing model programs for use by other performing arts centers and schools; developing and encouraging national and community outreach programs; and serving as a clearinghouse for arts education information and as an advocate for arts education on a national level. With its affiliate, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center works as both pioneer and partner with other performing arts institutions, educators and schools, legislators, parents, and community and business leaders. The Education Department also works closely with VSA arts, an educational affiliate of the Kennedy Center.
The goals of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival are:
• to encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs
• to provide opportunities for participants to develop their theater skills
and insight; and achieve professionalism
• to improve the quality of college and university theater in America
• to encourage colleges and universities to give distinguished productions
of new plays, especially those written by students, the classics, revitalized or newly conceived; and experimental works. KCACTF provides opportunities for college and university theater departments to showcase their best work
and to receive outside assessment. Through state, regional, and national festivals, KCACTF participants celebrate the creative process, see one
another's work, and share experiences and insights within the community
of theater artists. KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and
offers student artists individual recognition through awards and
scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing, and design.
ORGANIZATION
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a year-round program in eight geographic regions in the United States. Regional activities are coordinated through eight KCACTF regional chairs, eight KCACTF playwriting awards chairs, and eight design award chairs. With funding and administrative support from the Kennedy Center, the regional chair coordinates all aspects of the assessment and selection of productions on the local and regional level and supervises regional-level KCACTF award programs. The playwriting chair works with schools that have entered new and student-written plays by providing expertise in the development of new scripts - assessment specifically designed for a developing play and by providing information on the numerous playwriting awards offered through the KCACTF program. The design chair coordinate entries in the regional and national design award programs.
ENTERING
There is no limit to the number of productions a school may enter in the festival. Productions may be registered in the KCACTF at any time during the year. Productions entered in the KCACTF represent the work of faculty and students of the individual university and college theater departments. The Participating category is intended as a showcase for the finest work the school can produce; to qualify students for awards; and to give faculty, student directors, and student designers experience, visibility, and responses from colleagues outside the home institution. The Associate category exists for productions that cannot, for whatever reason, tour or be considered for the national festival. Both Participating and Associate productions receive outside response either on their home campuses or, in some regions, at state festivals and, with some exceptions, are eligible for all KCACTF-sponsored awards.
KCACTF responses are for the benefit of the company as a whole, they are not intended as an instrument for administrative review of individuals.
ACCESSIBILITY
The KCACTF welcomes persons with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations for participants with disabilities. To request an accommodation, please contact your regional chair (Juliet Wunsch: jwunsch@kcactf.org) Requests for accommodations must be received at least 6 weeks in advance of the event.
RESPONSE & SELECTION
PLEASE NOTE: During the week in which each region holds its regional festival, there will be no on-site response available in that region.
KCACTF works from the premise that effective theater is assessed by the depth and breadth of its ability to involve audiences in an experience that is both stimulating and illuminating, which emphasizes the spoken word; physical interpretation of the text based on genuine emotions; the humanity of individuals; and the relationships between characters.
In January and February of each year, regional festivals showcase the finest of each region's entered productions and offer a variety of activities, including workshops, symposia, and regional-level award programs. Regional festival productions are seen by the National Selection Team chosen by the Kennedy Center and the KCACTF National Committee. This panel selects four to six of the best and most diverse regional festival Participating productions to be showcased in the spring at the annual national festival at the Kennedy Center, all expenses paid. The national festival is the culmination of the KCACTF year. Recipients of national KCACTF awards, scholarships, and fellowships are also announced during the national festival.KCACTF reserves the right to withhold any award.
This website contains complete entry information and descriptions of all KCACTF awards programs. How to Enter the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
ELIGIBILITY
1. Any junior or senior college in the United States accredited by its regional association is eligible as well as student organizations directly sponsored by the accredited college.
2. Colleges in countries contiguous to the continental United States are eligible. Inquiries for regulations governing foreign entries should be addressed to Co-Manager/Administration, KCACTF, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC 20566.
TYPES OF ENTRY
All entries must be fully produced works presented before a public audience.
1. Participating entries are eligible:
• to be selected for regional and national festivals
• to nominate one bona fide student performer from its entry for
participation in the Irene Ryan Acting Award program. Other
nominations, not to exceed two, may be made by KCACTF
representatives and respondents who view the production or
a videotape of the production.
• to nominate the student designers from the entered production to
participate in the scenic, costume, lighting, and make-up design
programs.
• to nominate a reasonable number of students from the institution to
participate the National Critics Institute Scholarship program and the
O'Neill Musical Theater Conference Internship Program
• to be considered for all applicable playwriting awards
• to be considered for all other applicable KCACTF awards
2. Associate entries are not eligible to be selected for regional and national festivals, for the National Student Playwriting Award, or for the John Cauble Short Play Award but may be eligible for other playwriting awards (see description of each)
REGISTRATION
1. All Participating productions must have written approval of the appropriate official (such as theater department chair, faculty advisor to student organizations, university president, or provost) of the producing institution. Such letter(s) should be submitted to the KCACTF Co-Manager, Administration at the time of registration and should clearly state the title of each production entered.
2. Deadline: Both participating and associate producers must register their Festival XL productions by the deadline established within the regions. Registrations after that date can only be accepted with the approval of the regional chair.
3. The early registration fee for each Participating production is $300 and Associate production is $225. Please refer to the information on the homepage regarding early bird registration.
4. How to register: This website contains a link to an online registration form. Fill it out completely and submit the completed form to the KCACTF national office the Kennedy Center. Be sure to click on Region 2. If you are entering a play in one of the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards programs, or if the KCACTF entry is an original script that does not qualify for the playwriting awards program, also send a copy of the completed registration form to your KCACTF playwriting chair Ruth Childs at rchilds@brockport.edu.
THE COMPANY
1. The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is primarily a performance showcase for college and university students. Fifty percent (50%) of the acting company must be students enrolled in the institution during the semester or quarter in which the production is presented at the local, regional, and national levels. Problems regarding the casting of an entry should be brought to the attention of the regional chair.
2. There is no restriction on the number of people who can be part of an KCACTF production; however, any company with more than twenty-five participants for a regular play or thirty-five for a musical must be cleared with the regional chair.
THE PLAY
The following categories of plays may be entered:
1. New plays that qualify for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program (see the playwriting section of the site for further information).
2. Any full evening's program intended for a general audience.
ROYALTIES
The producing institution will obtain written permission for performances of its entry at the local level, and, if selected, at both the regional and national festivals, and will pay author royalties for these performances.
SPONSORSHIP BILLING
All KCACTF entries' program copy must contain the official KCACTF sponsorship billing credit. Camera-ready copy for entries is provided on the national website www.kcactf.org. Failure to include this official credit in your program may result in disqualification of your entry.
LIABILITY
Liability information and requirements are provided on the KCACTF on-line registration form. Please forward this information to your university or college risk management officer.
2009 REGIONAL & NATIONAL FESTIVALS
REGIONAL FESTIVALS
The regional, or in some instances the state, festival is a gathering of people to see one another's work and to share ideas. In addition to performances, there are a wide range of activities that in the past have included workshops and seminars on such topics as playwriting, auditioning, voice, movement, stage combat, theater for children, scene painting, scenery construction, and so on. There are sessions for the beginning theater artist and the experienced faculty member. During January and February, a total of eight regional festivals are held throughout the country.
Students, faculty, and staff who bring productions to regional festivals are encouraged to attend the entire festival. All festival participants are urged to attend productions brought by their peers, participate as audience or auditioners in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship program, and to avail themselves of the full range of workshops, symposia, and exhibits that are part of each regional festival.
NATIONAL FESTIVAL XLll
The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
A. PRODUCTION
The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is the site of the national festival. Technical details about facilities will be mailed to all registered Participating productions.
B. SELECTION
The KCACTF National Committee will form a National Selection Team, to consist of academic and nonacademic theater professionals. Members of the National Selection Team will view productions at regional festivals and will select productions for the national festival.
Productions invited for regional or national festivals should be presented in essentially the same manner as when initially selected. Substantive changes in script, production, or cast must be reported by the producing school to the regional chair who then reserves the right, with approval of the appropriate governing body, to withdraw the invitation.
Any production that involves a member of the KCACTF National Committee, a National Playwriting Awards Committee Chair, or the National Playwriting Committee Member-at-Large is automatically ineligible for the national festival, as are those from the schools of the academic professional members of the National Selection Team. Notification of consideration for the national festival will be given to the regional chair by the National Selection Team at the conclusion of each regional festival.
C. EXPENSES
KCACTF provides the following for all productions selected for national festival participation:
1. Transportation for the company and its theatrical baggage, including scenery. KCACTF will arrange for the most economical means for transporting the set and properties to the national festival in Washington. In cases where the set is trucked, KCACTF will provide one 22' truck, and cover expenses for fuel, tolls, and lodging for the drivers. Per diem will be provided for the drivers. Please note: The school will be responsible for supplying drivers for the rental truck.
2. Lodging in Washington during production period.
3. Per diem to cover food during production period.
Please note that any expenses incurred in Washington before or after the production setup and performance will be the responsibility of the college or university and not KCACTF. The KCACTF Producing Director and Production Coordinator reserve the right to determine what they deem to be essential artistic staff for productions invited to the National Festival vis a vis the payment of travel, per diem, and accommodation costs assumed by KCACTF.
The Participating school will provide its own physical production (scenery, properties, costumes, etc.) exclusive of lighting equipment, which will be provided by the Kennedy Center.
ARCHIVES
Ohio State University KCACTF Archives
The official archive for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, is located at the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University.
Website
theatreinst@osu.edu
614/292-6614