Theatre Salina will host the Region V competition of the American Association of Community Theatre Festival (AACT Fest).

According to the organization, six regional theatres will compete April 20-23 for the privilege to represent their region at the AACT Fest National Conference in June in Louisville, KY. Theatre Salina has been to national twice: in 2001 in Harrisburg, PA with its production of “Wit”, and in 2019 in Gettysburg, PA with “Silent Sky”.

Region V is comprised of theatres from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. At this competition the following theatres will present their best: The FungusAmongus Players of Dassel, MN will present “The End of the Beginning”; the County Seat Theater Company of Cloquet, MN will do “Tracks”; the Carousel Theatre of Indianola, IA will do “Code Five”; the Arkeny Community Theatre of Arkeny, IA, will do “The Children”; the Aberdeen Community Theatre  of Aberdeen, SD, will do “Didn’t See That Coming”; and Theatre Atchison of Atchison, KS, will do “The Wall”.

After each performance, each group will be adjudicated by three seasoned veterans of theatre. The adjudicators for Region V are Morrie Enders, Executive Director of Lincoln (NE) Community Playhouse, Kristy Meanor, Executive Director of the Wetumpka Depot Players, (AL), and John Viars, Director Emeritus of Des Moines Playhouse (IA).

Each theatre has 10 minutes to assemble their set, 60 minutes to perform, and 10 minutes to “strike” their set. These rules were created to allow theatres of all sizes to compete on an equal bases.

The Festival will also include a series of workshops a wide range of topics of interest to theatres. Marco Benitez, Director of Marketing and Communication with Music Theatre of Wichita will present “Marketing for Success: The use of Digital Marketing. Elizabeth-Ali Schade will do “Intimacy Coaching” exploring this new component of direction in theatre, film, and television. Joshua Morris will present his workshop on creating and building scenic projections. Morrie Enders will give tips of directing musical in community theatre. Maggie Spicer Brown will teach how to create dance and choreography for the non-dancer.

“We are truly excited to host this festival again. We did this event in 2011 just before the Theatre Education Wing was completed. Now that we have the full facility, this should be a more resonant event”, stated Theatre Salina Executive Director Michael Spicer. “We are endeavoring to bring theatres form all over the state together on a regular basis to share, learn, and network. We look forward to that kind of participation again”.

On Sunday, there will be an awards brunch at the Homewood Suites, which is also serving as the main host hotel for AACT Fest Region V. There are a variety of ways to attend and see performances from a full event ticket down to a single performance block of two shows. For tickets or information, call 785-827-3033.