(January 11, 2013)

Centenary to host Kennedy Center regional theater festival

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College has been chosen as the home of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region VI for the next three years. Nearly 1,200 students and faculty representing a six-state region will congregate in Shreveport during the week-long festival this February 26-March 2 to celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in college and university drama programs.

KCACTF graphic

"Hosting the KCACTF Regional Festival at Centenary is a huge boon not only for our students but also for the entire Shreveport-Bossier area," said Luke Eddy, Centenary Adjunct Professor and Festival Coordinator for KCACTF. "KCACTF provides a collaborative learning environment for our students to engage with professional guest artists and nationally recognized instructors from the top theatre programs in our six-state region. At the same time, we're able to offer a wide variety of entertainment to the community from the best programs in the area. You simply won't find this many performances, at this high of a caliber, in one building, anywhere in this part of the country."

The Festival will sponsor six performances from regional colleges and universities at the historic Strand Theatre in downtown Shreveport:

  • Reasons to be Pretty by Neil La Bute — University of Louisiana, Lafayette

  • Spring Awakening by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik — Sam Houston State University

  • Drømnium by Ashley Behm and UAFS students — University of Arkansas, Fort Smith

  • Enron by Lucy Prebble — Sam Houston State University

  • Staccato Man by Jacob Scott — Angelos State University

  • Iphigenia 2.0 by Charles L. Mee — West Texas A&M University

TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE.

A panel of judges will select the best and most diverse festival production to be showcased in the spring at the national festival held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Festival participants have the opportunity to engage in over 60 workshops on Centenary's campus led by nationally and regionally recognized artists. Professors from area institutions will expose students to the best practices of acting, musical theatre, technical design, stage management, directing, dramaturgy, playwrighting, and devised theatre.

Students will also have the chance to audition for prestigious scholarships, graduate school programs, and professional theatre companies.

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.

For more information, visit KCACTF6.