Theatre

The following are descriptions and links related to some of the Theatre programs affiliated with our department.

American College Theatre Festival

http://www.kcactf.org/

http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/actf/

Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center's founding chairman, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (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.

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.

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 judged by a panel of three judges selected by the Kennedy Center and the KCACTF national committee. These judges in consultation with the Artistic Director select four to six of the best and most diverse regional festival productions to be showcased in the spring at the annual noncompetitive national festival at the Kennedy Center, all expenses paid.

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.

American Society for Theatre Research

http://www.astr.org/

The American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) provides an organization and public voice for theatre scholars and promotes the cause of theatre as a field for serious scholarly study and research.

ASTR was founded in 1956 to encourage theatre scholarship and to provide a link with other similar groups represented in the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT). ASTR is the only American theatre organization affiliated with the American Council of Learned Societies and the IFTR.

ASTR holds annual conferences and publishes a semi-annual journal entitled Theatre Survey.

Rocky Mountain Theatre Association

http://www.rmta.net/

The Rocky Mountain Theatre Association was founded in 1951 by Campten Bell from the University of Denver, C. Lowell Lees at the University of Utah, and Vio Mae Powell from Idaho State University. These theatre professionals, along with colleagues in neighboring states, originally created the R.M.T.A. as a forum for students and theatre artists to expand their knowledge and experience through interaction with fellow students and theatre professionals. This exchange occurs at the Festivention, an annual convention featuring theatre arts workshops, lectures, demonstrations, performances, competitions, scholarships, employment opportunities, and informal gatherings.
Since its inception over 55 years ago, the organization has grown to include members representing the entire Rocky Mountain theatre community, thereby providing an even greater opportunity to exchange knowledge and expertise. Membership includes, but is not limited to, academic institutions such as high schools, colleges and universities, community theatres, individual theatre artists, non-profit organizations, and professional theatre companies.

Membership in the R.M.T.A. is open to anyone interested in the varied aspects of Theatre Arts. Individual artists, people in educational programs, community theatres, and professional theatres will find membership in the R.M.T.A. particularly stimulating and advantageous. For more information, contact your state representative.

Theatre

Theatre and Media Arts

Affiliated Groups & Programs