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. 24 - 29 for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region VI, hosted 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 KCACTF 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 and is committed to hosting the event this year and again in 2005.

The UA Department of Drama 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. In addition, Assistant Professor Chuck Gorden currently serves as the Region VI Playwriting Chair and as a member of the KCACTF National Committee, while Professor Andrew Gibbs is the immediate past National Design Chair and serves on the Executive Board of the National Partners of American Theatre, a senior advisory group to the KCACTF.

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:

12:30 p.m. Wed., Feb. 25
"The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek" by Naomi Wallace
Trinity Valley Community College
Running time: 2 hours. One intermission.

Rating: R

8 p.m. Wed., Feb. 25
"Blood Knot" by Athol Fugard
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
This is a 2-person play that deals with two brothers (one white and one black) living in Apartheid-driven South Africa. The plot focuses on the relationship the two have and how it at times mirrors the prejudices that exist in the society at large.

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. One Intermission.

Rating: Mature subject matter; violence. (R)

12:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 26
"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" by Martin McDonagh
Centenary College of Louisiana

Set in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, Ireland, "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Polan, a plain and lonely woman, and Mag, her manipulative aging mother whose interference in Maureen’s first and possibly final chance of a loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that leads inexorably towards the play’s terrifying ending.

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. One Intermission.

Rating: PG - 13.

4 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 26 (in Starr Theatre)

"A Night at the Theatre/Theater" by Jonathan Mendoza
Texas Wesleyan University
(Please note: limited seating)

The play is an unusual quasi serious-comic look at the theater and how people perceive it.

Running time: 25 minutes. No intermission.

Rating: G

8 p.m. Thurs. ,Feb. 26
"Savage in Limbo/Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" by John Patrick Shanley
University of Texas, El Paso
In "Savage in Limbo," five quirky and terribly flawed losers seek to discover and accept who they are in a hilarious, touching, desperate, and startlingly illuminating fashion. With their raw nerves exposed, they take us on a passionate journey that forces us to consider if we have the courage to shake the chains of our daily, mindless routines and dive headfirst into life.

In "Danny & The Deep Blue Sea," Roberta and Danny, both dangerous, battered, and burning with horrifying secrets, are thrown together in a seedy bar. The result? A gripping, sexually charged and brutally funny character study of two people exploding with rage who manage to find tenderness and hope.

Running time: 2 hours. One intermission.

Rating: adult language, situations and possible brief nudity. (R)

12:30 p.m., Fri., Feb. 27 (Student written, full-length play)
"Con Mis Manos/With My Hands" by Misael Martinez
Angelo State University
In this premier production, Mr. Martinez has created a family drama that is loaded with insight into the emotions of each of the family members affected by the illness afflicting Josephina, the mother in the family.

Running time: 2 hours. One intermission.

Rating: Mature subject matter. (PG - 13)

8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 27
"Accidental Death of an Anarchist" by Dario Fo
University of Central Oklahoma
The play is a contemporary, small-cast political farce that satirizes police corruption, media manipulation and political shenanigans. Dario Fo's script focuses on the Manic, the leading character, and his investigation into the death of an Italian anarchist who supposedly committed suicide while in police custody. This new translation by Simon Nye moves the action to central police headquarters somewhere in England; otherwise, Nye’s version is faithful to the original.

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. One intermission.

Rating: Adult language and brief partial nudity. (R)

12:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 28
"Not About Nightingales" by Tennessee Williams
Sam Houston State University
"Not About Nightingales" is set in an American prison in 1938. Inspired by actual events, the show follows a cast of 18 through two intertwining stories. One is that of Jim, a trustee up for parole, and his relationship with Eva, the Boss’ new secretary. The second is the struggle for control between the Boss, who rules the prison with an iron fist, and the prisoners and their leader, Butch. As a hunger strike breaks out, the two stories come crashing together as everyone reaches the boiling point and rush to an ending in which no one is left unscathed.

Running time:  2 hours, 40 minutes. One intermission.

Rating: violence, language and adult situations. (R)

7:30 p.m. Sat. Feb. 28

Irene Ryan Evening of Scenes
The 16 Regional Finalists and their partners perform their audition pieces for the Irene Ryan Acting Audition Scholarship.

Running time: 2 hours. One Intermission.

Rating: Some adult language and subject matter. (R)