The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) 2017 is in Des Moines, IA January 22-28, 2017.
All students attending should apply for the Student Research Travel Award through the College of Arts & Sciences by November 18, 2016. Any student who would like to attend is eligible, with or without an Irene Ryan nomination. Apply for the Arts & Sciences travel award HERE. If you need help completing the application, talk to a faculty member!
Irene Ryan nominees and their partners are invited to attend, but other theatre students may choose to attend for the workshops. Students who attend will be excused from Theatre classes and will be given an excuse letter for general ed classes.
If you are not going for Irene Ryans, what could you do at KCACTF? Check out the KCACTF Region 5 WEBSITE.
Musical Theatre Intensive– submissions accepted until January 9, 2017. View page HERE.
Directing Events – Region 5 offers many ways for students and faculty to be involved in directing events. Most deadlines for directing event submissions are December 9, 2016. Don’t miss out! Go HERE to view all Directing event information (plus see a sweet photo of one of our productions on the main directing page!)
Design/Tech and Management Events – Students interested in DTM can sign up to participate. Coming soon. Check the KCACTF website.
Dramaturgy – Calling all Dramaturgs for the Region 5 Dramaturgy event! Participants can enter realized OR non-realized dramaturgy projects. Coming soon. Check the KCACTF website.
Professional Auditions: Info posted around Oct. 24. Check the KCACTF website.
ALL DEADLINES are listed HERE.
ABOUT KCACTF:
Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center’s founding chairman, the Kennedy Center American College Theater (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide which has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents.
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.
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. The KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing, and design.
KCACTF is a year-round program in eight geographic regions in the United States. Regional activities are coordinated through eight KCACTF regional chairs and eight KCACTF playwriting awards chairs. With funding and administrative support from the Kennedy Center, the regional chair coordinates with the Co-Managers of KCACTF all aspects of the adjudication of productions on the local and regional level and supervises regional-level KCACTF award competitions. 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.
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.
Since its inception, KCACTF has given more than 400,000 college theater students the opportunity to have their work critiqued, improve their dramatic skills and receive national recognition for excellence. More than 16 million theatergoers have attended approximately 10,000 festival productions nationwide.