College Theatre Festival to Showcase Best Productions in Five-State Region

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The best young playwrights, actors and drama faculty from five states will gather in Fayetteville Feb. 22-26 for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region VI, hosted for the second consecutive year by the department of drama at the University of Arkansas, with the support of the Walton Arts Center, the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission.

Nearly 600 students and faculty from schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arkansas are expected to attend the festival, which will showcase eight productions selected by a team the Kennedy Center appointed to judge entries. The team will recommend which of these regional shows will advance to the National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April.

While in Fayetteville, about 300 actors will compete in the national Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions, about 100 students will participate in the Barbizon Design Showcase and about 50 more will participate in the new play competition and the critical writing events. The Ryan Scholarships are named after actress Irene Ryan, known for her work on stage, in film and on television as the feisty Granny in “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

A group of 32 judges and workshop leaders from across the country will attend as well.  The department of drama will provide a broad array of services to the festival, from technical support to receptions and overall festival planning.

The mission of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival is to support college and university theatre productions. Organized in 1968 and supported by the education department of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the college theatre festival sponsors local, regional and national events that showcase academic theatre productions.

“During these festivals, fully mounted productions are evaluated, publicly critiqued and eventually considered for presentation at successively higher profile venues. In addition, individual student work in acting, design, playwriting and critical writing is presented in competitive auditions and exhibits leading to regional and national awards,” said D. Andrew Gibbs, chair of the drama department.

Gibbs said the University of Arkansas was the site for the KCACTF Region VI festival in 1994 and 1995.

The UA drama department has entered 16 students in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions, three students in the Design Showcase and two students in the New Play Competition. Professor Andrew Gibbs is the past national design chair and serves on the executive board of the National Partners of American Theatre, a senior advisory group to the theatre festival.

More information as well as a full festival schedule of events can be found on the Web site at http://www.uark.edu/~drama/actf/actf_index.html. Tickets are on sale at the Walton Arts Center, where all the productions are being staged. A full festival pass for eight plays is $10 for UA students, $15 for non-UA students, and $25 for the general public. Individual show tickets are $3 for UA students, $5 for non-UA students, and $10 for the general public.

Following is a full schedule of performances:

Wednesday, February 23

12:30 p.m. - [sic] by Melissa James Gibson

Southeastern Louisiana University

4:30 p.m. - Ingénue by Lisa Hall (original short play) Star Theatre

The University of Tulsa

8:00 p.m. - The Old Boy by A.R. Gurney

West Texas A & M University

Thursday, February 24