University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA INTRODUCTION Juliet Wunsch, Region II Festival Chair “There is a time to work and a time to play”. Festival has always been a time to celebrate your passion, to co-mingle with fellow artists and to share ideas about your craft, and I am THRILLED to be here with you to say… LET THE FUN BEGIN! This year’s festival, in bustling Center City Philadelphia, will feature nine invited productions as well as celebrate the diverse theatre work from over 80 institutions. Workshops in performance, design and technology, playwriting, stage management, criticism, di- recting,… abound and the best thing you can do is TRY IT ALL!! So, get up each morning, explore enjoy and celebrate until you collapse from exhaustion, but please keep these two thoughts in mind: (1) Festival only comes once a year, so don’t spend it sleep- ing in each morning. (2) You are in a city, so please travel in groups and STAY SAFE! Welcome to FESTIVAL 41!! Charlie Gilbert, Interim Director, School of Theater Arts, UArts Welcome to Philadelphia, and to The University of the Arts! The School of Theater Arts extends a warm greeting to the talented and passionate theater artists of Region II. The University of the Arts in Philadelphia is the first and only university in the United States solely dedi- cated to educating creative individuals in the visual, performing and communication arts. Our 2,300 stu- dents and 500 faculty members are all doing what they love. UArts has a distinguished history of more than 130 years of nurturing and defining creativity. The School of Theater Arts, one of the youngest departments in the university, just celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, and you can find SOTA alumni working as per- formers, designers, directors and administrators on Broadway, at theaters throughout the US, and on televi- sion and film. Philadelphia is one of the nation's great theater cities. Our neighbors on Broad Street (the "Avenue of the Arts") include the Wilma Thea- ter, the Philadelphia Theater Company, the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. Nearby are the Walnut Street Theater (America's oldest theater), the Prince Music Theater and the Arden Theater, and a profusion of smaller theaters all contribute to make this a vibrant scene. Philly is also home to the renowned Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, a two-week festival of cutting- edge performances hosted by theaters throughout the city - including us! I know that this combination of creativity and theatrical abundance will provide the perfect environment for the next two ACTF Region II Festivals. It's a time to make new friends, renew old acquaintances, gain new skills, fire up your imagination, and strut your stuff in front of a discerning and supportive crowd of your peers. Have a great Festival! Charles Fuller, Keynote Speaker, is best known for A Soldier's Play, winner of the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He vowed to become a writer after noticing that his high school's library had no books by African American authors. Fuller was born in Philadelphia in 1939, the son of Charles H. and Lillian (née Anderson) Fuller. He attended Roman Catholic High School and then Villanova University (1956-1958), then joined the U.S. Army in 1959, serving in Japan and South Korea. He left the army in 1962, and later studied at La Salle University (1965-1967). He co-founded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia in 1967, co-directing it until 1971. He achieved critical notice in 1969 with THE VILLAGE: A PARTY, a drama about racial tensions between a group of mixed-race couples. He later wrote plays for the Henry Street CHARLES Settlement theatre and the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, who have performed several of his plays. His 1975 play THE BROWNSVILLE RAID is based on the Brownsville Affair, an altercation FULLER between black soldiers and white civilians in Brownsville, Texas, in 1906, which led to an entire black Merriam regiment being dishonorably discharged (they were pardoned in 1976). Theater He won an Obie Award for ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN in 1980, about a black Philadelphia teen who kills a young girl on her own front porch, and whose neighbors do not rise up against him after being 12:30 pm goaded by the girl's father with a sign. Zooman’s victim's father convinces their neighbors that they Wednesday need to stand together to achieve justice. His next work, A SOLDIER'S PLAY, told the story of the racially charged search by a black captain for the murderer of a black sergeant on a Louisiana army base in 1944, as a means to discuss the position of blacks in white society. It was a critical success, winning Fuller a Pulitzer in 1982, and being produced as the 1984 film, A SOLDIER'S STORY, for which Fuller wrote the screen adaptation. His screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award, and it won an Edgar Award. Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Region II, Festival 41 University of the Arts - Mission The Arts have the power to transform society. They play an essential role in ensuring and enhancing the quality of life. The University of the Arts is committed to inspiring, educating and preparing innovative art- ists and creative leaders for the Arts of the 21st century. University of the Arts - Purpose The University of the Arts is devoted exclusively to education and training in the arts. Within this commu- nity of artists the process of learning engages, refines, and articulates all of our creative capabilities. Our insti- tution was among the first to contribute to the formation of an American tradition in arts education. We con- tinue to develop interpreters and innovators who influence our dynamic culture. THEATER AT THE KENNEDY CENTER IS PRESENTED WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF STEPHEN AND CHRISTINE SCHWARZMAN. THE KENNEDY CENTER AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATER FESTIVAL IS SPONSORED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; DR. GERALD AND PAULA MCNICHOLS FOUNDATION; THE KENNEDY CENTER CORPORATE FUND; AND THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS. Table of Contents PAGE / 1 TO 2 WELCOME / UARTS MISSION STATEMENT / TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 TO 4 INVITED PRODUCTIONS AND PERFORMANCE TIMES 5 TO 6 GENERAL INFORMATION [REGISTRATION & INFORMATION DESK / FACULTY HOSPITALITY SUITE / BADGES / ADMISSION TO EVENTS / TRANSPORTATION / PARKING / DINING / COMPUTER ACCESS / EMERGENCIES / SECURITY / LOST AND FOUND] OFFICE LOCATION 8 TO 9 GETTING AROUND, PARKING AND VENUES 10 TO 15 DAILY SCHEDULES FOR ALL EVENTS 16 TO 23 WORKSHOPS BY DISCIPLINE 24 ‘PROJET MANAGEMENT’ - A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS 25 IRENE RYAN COMPETITION INFORMATION [IRA] 26 TO 27 NATIONAL PLAYWRITING PROGRAM [NPP] 28 STUDENT DIRECTING LAB [DIR] NATIONAL CRITICS INSTITUTE [NCI] 29 DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT [DTM] 30 DRAMATURGY [DRA] FESTIVAL FRINGE [FRN] 31 KCACTF & HOST UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP AND STAFF 32 STUDENT VOLUNTEERS, RESPONDENTS, INVITED GUEST AND SPECIAL THANKS 33 TO 41 PROFILES OF FACULTY, WORKSHOP LEADERS AND STAFF 42 PARTICIPATING PRODUCTIONS - FESTIVAL 41 43 ASSOCIATE PRODUCTIONS - FESTIVAL 41 44 CAMPUS MAP 2 University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA INVITED PRODUCTIONS INVITED PRODUCTIONS ALL RESPONSES HELD IN THE ARTS BANK 3RD FLOOR HONOR AND THE RIVER BY ANTON DUDLEY 5:15 PM WEDNESDAY AM HURSDAY PRESENTED BY SUNY OSWEGO 9:00 T ARTS BANK Written by Anton Dudley, Directed by Kevin Hollenbeck , Student Association, Blackfriars and the Theatre Depart- ment of SUNY Oswego present, HONOR AND THE RIVER: Eliot, the boy who can't swim, is paired with Honor, a RESPONSE 3:00 TO 4:00 ON THURSDAY star athlete on the rowing team. Honor seems to be the expert, training Eliot to conquer his fear of the water. Ma- nipulation, betrayal and deception test the limits of friendship when it becomes apparent that Eliot has a great deal to teach Honor about the nature of honesty and vulnerability. Set in a boy's prep school, this coming-of-age story exam- ines friendship, family and the courage needed to take responsibility for one's emotions. {2 hours 15 minutes, including a 10-min intermission} Directed by Kevin Hollenbeck BIG LOVE BY CHARLES L. MEE PRESENTED BY PENN STATE ALTOONA 8:30 PM WEDNESDAY Big Love is based on The Suppliant Women by Aeschylus, but Mee takes this ancient plot and updates it. It’s a zany tragicomedy about marriage and love. In a Curtain Up review about the New York production of Big Love MERRIAM it states: “Mee turns the ancient story of fifty brides who rebel against their arranged marriages to fifty grooms into nothing less than a theatrical free-for-all. How Mee handles this explosive material, turning it at once into a somber RESPONSE 10:00 TO 11:00 mediation on the ancient themes of justice and revenge and at the same time into a wild celebration of the enduring ON THURSDAY power of love, is nothing less than inspiring..” {2 hours } Directed by Dept Head Robin Reese LOVE’S LABOURS’ LOST BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 12:30 PM THURSDAY The young King of Navarre decides to dedicate his court to seriousPRESENTED academic study, BY with ALBRIGHT no girls allowed! COLLEGE But when a diplomatic delegation of noblewomen arrives, the men rapidly shift their study to the art of flirtation. The MERRIAM young (and not-so-young) scholars of Shakespeare’s comedy put on quite a show of their learning and language for their guests, but will their labors of love be sufficient? RESPONSE 4:00 TO 5:00 ON THURSDAY {2 hours 30 minutes, 10-min intermission} Directed by Dept Head Julia Matthews LA BETE BY DAVID HIRSON PRESENTED BY GROVE CITY COLLEGE La Bête is set in France in 1654 and revolves around an upheaval in a famous acting troupe.