Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Regional competitions.

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   First, our theater has never participated in statewide or regional competitions (by the way for some reason the work "competition" seems to be frowned upon.  "Festivals" seems to be the preferred term).

Get the package from the hosting organization - AACT for the big national "festival".  It takes well over a year to put a show together - from beginning to final performance.

The most successful groups look at their available quality actors and pick a script that fits their cast.  There are usually one or two real "stars" that hold a performance together.

After you get your cast together (and make sure they will dedicate a year to this project), you need to find a script and edit it down to the performance length allowed at your festival - 60 minutes at the nationals.  Run 61 minutes and you are disqualified.  Then you have to get the playright to agree to your changes - this is usually handled by the royalty house and can take months.  

Make SURE you have the rights to use any music in your show - that includes written permission from both the song writer and performers - even if they are your friends from back home.  Even if the music is in the public domain, you still need written permission from the performer.

Pick a play that is technically simple - you will be limited in the amount of set you can use (there are usually storage dimension regulations).  Your on stage rehearsal time is very limited so there is not a lot of time to figure out how to do all the neat things you thought of at home.  Some limit you to the standard house light setup with one special, some are more flexible.  

You usually have a fixed period of time to set up your set and to break it down afterwards - ten minutes in the national festival.  From the time you start setting up your set, you must begin your show withing ten minutes or you are disqualified - same about breaking down your set after your performance.  Always leave yourself a few minutes grace - things can go wrong - particularly in a strange theater.

I have never been moved to enter a festival but it is a very interesting process.  My take on it is that it is not at all like the community theater you do today but can be very challenging and rewarding.

Hope this helps.

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Guests Guest	Topic: Regional competitions. Posted: 10/13/03 at 12:28pm
	First, our theater has never participated in statewide or regional competitions (by the way for some reason the work "competition" seems to be frowned upon. "Festivals" seems to be the preferred term). Get the package from the hosting organization - AACT for the big national "festival". It takes well over a year to put a show together - from beginning to final performance. The most successful groups look at their available quality actors and pick a script that fits their cast. There are usually one or two real "stars" that hold a performance together. After you get your cast together (and make sure they will dedicate a year to this project), you need to find a script and edit it down to the performance length allowed at your festival - 60 minutes at the nationals. Run 61 minutes and you are disqualified. Then you have to get the playright to agree to your changes - this is usually handled by the royalty house and can take months. Make SURE you have the rights to use any music in your show - that includes written permission from both the song writer and performers - even if they are your friends from back home. Even if the music is in the public domain, you still need written permission from the performer. Pick a play that is technically simple - you will be limited in the amount of set you can use (there are usually storage dimension regulations). Your on stage rehearsal time is very limited so there is not a lot of time to figure out how to do all the neat things you thought of at home. Some limit you to the standard house light setup with one special, some are more flexible. You usually have a fixed period of time to set up your set and to break it down afterwards - ten minutes in the national festival. From the time you start setting up your set, you must begin your show withing ten minutes or you are disqualified - same about breaking down your set after your performance. Always leave yourself a few minutes grace - things can go wrong - particularly in a strange theater. I have never been moved to enter a festival but it is a very interesting process. My take on it is that it is not at all like the community theater you do today but can be very challenging and rewarding. Hope this helps.

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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/13/03 at 1:24pm
	I would like to re-but some of the issues Doug raises. I have participated in numorous state, regional and national festivals, and helped run a couple state and regional festivals. No offense to Doug, but the process is nowhere near as bad as he makes it sound and is an incredible learning experience. First, the term "Festival" is used because we really don't want people to go into these things only thinking about winning. Yes, it's nice to win, but there is so much more to festivals then just picking a winner. The time commitment for a festival show is rarely as long as a year. It really depends when you state festival is. Here in New Jersey out festival is in March, and the Nationals are usually in June. So with rehersal time this is only 6 to 7 months. In even number years there is no national festival so it's even less time. Also since the shows are generally 60 minutes or less there tends to be less rehersal time then a full lenght show. The 60 minute time limit can be difficult, but to have time for everyone to perform it's helpful to have the limit. There are a lot of great one-acts out there that are already written to by under 60 minutes so those are a good place to start. For longer plays, it is usually not hard to get permission for the rights house to do scene cuts, or even better line cuts. If you get these permissions, then no further permissions are needed from the author. Some show are not allowed to be cut at all (Our Town for example) but there are not alot of these. The music issue is a tough one, and Doug is correct you do have to get the rights to all music. Legally you have to get music rights no matter where you do you show. Since AACT is a national orginization they really need to lead by example so they require the rights. The tech part of a show can be a little tricky. You are generally given 60 - 90 minutes to figure out your lights, sound, and staging. If you are prepared this is not as hard as it sounds. A few tips: - Communicate your needs to the festival TD prior to the festival (this is allowed and encourages). The festival TD should be providing lights and sound specs for the facility as well as a ground plan of the stage. Work out with them ahead of time what will and will not be possible. I've TD'ed festivals and have no problem doing this for partipants. - Bring copies of the scripts for the lighting and sound techs with the cues marked and well as clearly written cue sheets. - Know what you want! The best competing groups to work with are the ones that come in and have a very clear idea of what they are looking for. The 10 minute setup and 10 minute strike are not as restricting as you might think. It's amazing what can be done in 10 minutes. In all the festivals I have run I have never seen anyone go over 7 minutes setup, and people did some very complex sets. Yes, the process can be a little tricky but the rewards are worth it. Some of things you will get out of festivals: - Chance to network with other people in community theater, to learn how other people do things and how other people have solved problems that you might be having. - The chance to learn from (hopefully) skilled adjudicators. I have encountered some very talented adjudicators at festivals. These people are not there to tell you, that your show was good or bad, they are there to give you constructive input to make your show the best that it can be. - The chance to work a show to perfection. You very rarely get the oportunity to rehearse a show, perform it for an audiance, get feedback, do more rehersals, and perform again. Festivals give you this chance and it can be very exciting. - The chance to work in different theater spaces. The theater I normally work in is a small 140 seat black box. Festivals have given me to work in some amazing theater spaces, from 100 year old Vaudville theaters to brand new state of the art performing arts centers. - They are just plain fun! As you can see I love festivals and would be happy to talk further with people about them if there are interested. Dan Boris danlb_2000@yahoo.com
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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/14/03 at 12:12pm
	I'm sorry - I don't mean to be down on festivals. After talking to several groups who have entered them, I realize it is a wonderful opportunity to show others what you can do. I have seen some of the best theater I have ever seen during festivals. Some of these productions just knocked my socks off. Since most (but definitely not all) use simple sets, it has shown me that good theater does not need all the trappings we have come to expect. I was lucky enough to see "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" at our State festival before it went on to win the National competition. Not only was this an absolutely wonderful show, there were at least two other productions ("National Pasttime" and "Having Our Say") that were (almost) as good - each in their own way. One of my favorite parts is to hear the adjudicators give notes to the production after the performance. It is wonderful to hear real theater professionals offer their comments on the performance you have just seen. Almost everyone in the audience stays for that. Another benefit - I got to see 10 wonderful shows in just over two days - talk about OD'ing on theater!!! I love the theater festivals - they are just not for me.
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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/14/03 at 8:33pm
	This is not advice, only an observation. I agree with all of the positive things being said here about the festivals after attending my first state festival(merely as an observer). It was a wonderful experience and we went home to my group really excited about what we had seen. Two months later the size of the group attending had increased X3. We not only saw remarkable performances, we also saw the teamwork that is required for good ensemble work. That in itself is worth seeing and encouraging your group to experience. Very impressive. I am hooked and hope to persuade my group involved in presenting something sometime.
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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/14/03 at 10:26pm
	I was at the national festival this year where that production of "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" won. It was a excellent production and definitly deserved the awards it got. It was especially nice to see them win because of all the young people in the show, it must have been a very exciting experience for them. The production that took second place was a show called "Three Viewings". It's composed of three monolouges that all take in a funeral home at viewings. One of the monoluges they did for competition was done by a woman who say on a sofa center stage for almost the entire 25 minute monolouge, and the audiance just hung on her every word. It was a truely amazing performance. Dan
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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/15/03 at 11:55am
	We have done "Three Viewings" twice. It is a wonderful piece for three strong actors. I did tech for both shows so I saw it a lot. I never got tired of watching it. All three roles are great but the two womens roles will tear your heart out. I have recommended it several times (particularly for Readers Theater) but most people think it is too offbeat. Worth a look.
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