Slow down, there! That is a lot of questions! Yes. You will be REQUIRED to act in a reading if you are cast. There is a local unified audition at the very start of summer. You will be REQUIRED to audition, just like all of the other local actors. In addition to our playwrights and directing students, we also invite all of the local directors to sit in on the auditions, including Mill Mountain Theatre, Off the Rails Theatre, Showtimers Community Theatre, Attic Theatre, and other local companies. Many of our playwrights and directing students also run theatres in their home communities. You will go through the audition process and submit a headshot, resume, and so forth. You will also fill out an audition sheet that includes a place where you can indicate things you don’t feel comfortable doing on stage—like if you are afraid of heights, can’t use profanity, or don’t want to kiss anyone. You can also indicate a preference for or against any particular play, and all of that information will be taken into consideration by the casting teams. Acting in Festival is such an important part of the education you are paying for, however, we do kind of presume that most of our performers will be inclined to accept a role if offered and ALL certificate performers WILL be offered roles.
The readings are not productions and all production values are minimal. Some costumes and props are allowed, but the focus is on developing the play, not spectacle. The readings are performed on the Waldron Stage of Mill Mountain Theatre, our artistic partner.
Copies of the selected plays will be sent to all the certificate performers to read on or around May 15, so that you are familiar with the plays and the playwrights before the summer starts and you have to audition. You will also be emailed the bios of each of the directors so that you can be familiar with their backgrounds as well. Does that help?
In trying to answer, we probably only raised more questions, but some of those questions are best asked in the classroom on campus and not answered in a sheet like this. Trust us, we have a plan.
Our playwrights generate an astounding amount of work in the classroom each summer, and we’re proud to say that a pretty fair percentage of that work has been presented in readings and even produced and published. Decision Height, by M.F.A. playwright Meredith Levy even won the national award for playwriting from KCACTF and that play was then published by Samuel French and is getting productions all over the country. The Matador, by M.F.A. playwright Robert Plowman was produced at Mill Mountain Theatre and then we flew half of the cast to Los Angeles for a six-week run of the show, and The Arctic Circle and a recipe for Swedish Pancakes, by M.F.A. playwright Samantha Macher went to New York for six performances with the entire original cast after its successful run at Mill Mountain Theatre and was then published by Original Works Publishing. A lot of our students are listed in the published version of these plays as the company involved in the world premiere. That looks impressive on your resume.