The University of Oklahoma School of Drama will host the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 6, February 20 through February 25. The festival will bring 700-1000 theatre students and their faculty from a five state area to Norman for a week of educational and performance events, including six invited productions, including one of which will be OU’s production of Spring’s Awakening directed by Tonia Sina Ellis.

Other productions that will be featured include Flipside: The Patti Page Story from University of Central Oklahoma; Macbeth, from Oklahoma City University; Zoo Story from Rich Mountain Community College, Mena Arkansas; The Living Glory from Centenary College of Louisiana; and Bandersnatch from Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas.

A feature of the festival is the Irene Ryan Scholarship Acting competition, for which more than 200 students have been nominated from their respective colleges and universities, including nine from OU. Each participant performs, with a partner, two duets and a monologue. Two performers and their partners will be selected from this region to perform at the Kennedy Center in the national competition.

Design and technology students also participate in Barbizon Design competition. Scenic, lighting and costume design students display their work and vie for prizes and an opportunity to display their designs at the national KCACTF in Washington D.C. and study with master teachers in their professional design field.

In addition to productions, and competitions, attendees can take workshops on acting, design, dramaturgy, directing, musical theatre singing and performance and playwriting. New to the festival will be theProfessional Auditions and Interviews workshop, including musical theatre and dance. Ten professional theatrical companies, including Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Music Theatre Wichita, Santa Fe Opera and Houston Shakespeare will be present, will be selecting actors for their upcoming summer seasons. Also new this year is the Musical Theatre Initiative in which musical theatre students perform two songs to compete for prizes and professional opportunities.

A highlight of the week will be a question and answer session offered by Tony Award-winning producer and OU Regent A. Max Weitzenhoffer and internationally renowned London’s West End director Hugh Wooldridge.  The session will be moderated by School of Drama Director Tom Orr.

In addition to Oklahoma, the states attending the theatre festival are Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas and Missouri. Says festival coordinator Rena Cook, “Every Drama faculty and staff member and all our students are involved in this effort,” said festival coordinator Rena Cook. “Preparation began a year ago. Most gratifying to me is watching student leadership emerge from this process. Many of our students have stepped forward and assumed responsibility for various aspects of the festival.”

“The School of Drama is excited and honored to open its doors to KCACTF, an organization that has brought so many wonderful opportunities to our students and continues to raise the bar for artistic standards throughout the United States,” said Tom Orr, Director of the School of Drama.

If you would like more information or an interview please contact Sandra Bent, Helmerich School of Drama Public Relations office at (405) 325-5321, or sbent@ou.edu.