Secondary School Theatre Festival

Contact Info

Your primary contacts for information about the festival are:

• Beth Brown (Producer of SETC Festivals) beth@setc.org
• JERF Friedenberg (SSTF Festival Director) jerf@setc.org
• Harry Culpepper (Secondary Division Chair) hculpepperjr@gmail.com

Festival Rules

This activity shall serve as a showcase of Secondary School theatre. This includes public or private high schools, performing arts high schools, dual enrollment institutions, and participants from home schools, providing that all participants are currently enrolled in grades nine (9) through twelve (12) in a public school, private school, or a homeschool program.

Rules and Regulations

1. A participating production may select from all types of plays.
2. Each participating production must be its home state’s official entry in the festival
3. Each state’s official entry shall be reported to SETC within two weeks of that state’s Screening Festival, no later than January 30.
4. Each participating production must secure and be prepared to show proof of production rights and payment of royalty fees.
   1. SETC shall in no way be responsible for any faults that may occur with royalty.
   2. Any participant who is discovered not to have secured the necessary rights and fees shall be disqualified from the festival.
5. The publisher of each play shall be included as part of the Festival program.
6. Each participating production will be provided with a floor plan indicating the size and arrangement of the festival stage.
7. Festival Chair and volunteers will work with the director, cast and crew of each show in facilitating the performance.
8. Venues may determine house staffing and availability of equipment including board ops and house carpenter.
9. Lighting needs beyond those provided by the venue, must be supplied by the participating production, and must be placed and removed within the specified time limits.
10. Each participating production shall have a 45 minute time limit (bare stage to bare stage)
11. Any production, which exceeds the time limit, shall not be considered for the Best Play Award.
12. The time clock may be stopped for extenuating circumstances at the discretion of the Festival Chair.
13. When make-up and dressing facilities are available, participating productions will have access to same, one hour preceding performance.
14. Participating productions must provide all technical materials and equipment unless the host institution (or a participating production) makes said material or equipment available to all participants.
15. Each participating production is responsible for setting, striking and clearing the performance area.
16. All sets must be flameproof.
17. The set must fit into a 10 x 10 foot box backstage or into the space available.

Backstage Access

1. Backstage access is restricted to performing schools and authorized SETC personnel during performances.
2. Visitors, family members, or non-participating students are not permitted in restricted areas.
3. Only One Adult (Teacher or Director from the performing school) is allowed to be backstage as an observer.

Production Schedule

• Please refer to the schedule as we have tried to lay out the day as clearly as possible.
• Note your load in times, your tech times, your dressing room and on deck times.
• Please plan to have a second informed adult to help you with the various logistics of the festival.

Currently,we have scheduled 20 minutes at the loading dock for each school to unload their set, props, and costumes into their 10 x 10 ‘box’ backstage. It is important that you delegate someone to help with your load in while you are participating in the Tech Demo. If your cast is not helping with this they may wait in the holding/catering area.

Load In

Load In & Out do not have to be done solely by students — you may have adult volunteers help to unload and move into your 10 x 10. 

Load in and the Tech Demo WILL be held simultaneously Thursday and Friday mornings. This means you will need to have a crew to do the load in while you, your stage manager, and board ops are attending the Tech Demo.

The loading dock is on the second floor (stage level) and is accessed by a long ramp leading to a level 80" open-air ‘rollway’ to the roll up door. (There is a standard door to access backstage as well.)     There is a short ladder from the truck ramp to the rollway. The rollway is standard 18-wheeler trailer height. There is no easy way to move between ramp level & rollway — it is designed for a driver to back a truck in and wait in the cab while a crew unloads.  

The loading dock is upstage right. There are 2 roll up doors: one exterior and one interior separated by approximately 9’.  

The venue has a second proscenium upstage and we will place our 10x10s there. We will have an upstage black (guillotine only) that we will fly for load in, strike, and on deck.

Tech Demo (Show & Tell)

We will have a brief 15-minute meeting for directors, stage managers, and board ops where we will introduce the house staff, demonstrate the lighting areas, and answer any last minute questions.  

Dressing rooms – Lower Level 

Dressing rooms will be pre-assigned based on the size of your company. 

There are four ‘star’ dressing rooms (3 people comfortably), and each pair shares a bathroom. Four chorus rooms (16-20 people comfortably) are on this level, and each pair shares a bathroom.

You may get into your assigned dressing room(s) at 1 hour prior to your GO. 

There is a street-level roll up door at the back of the building. There are stairs stage right leading to the stage. There is also a passenger elevator which opens upstage right. The door is 3’ wide and the inside depth is 8’.

There is a rehearsal space (wood floor, mirrors) that companies may use for warm up and for storing costumes. There is also a large ‘catering’ space that we will use for the optional verbal responses.

Production Tech Period

Tech periods are closed rehearsals. Only the company and Festival personnel are allowed in the auditorium or backstage during each school’s technical time. 

Each school has 20 minutes to:

• Move from their 10 x 10 to the stage. If you wish to practice your set up, this will count toward your overall tech time.
• Set up & spike your set. (We will provide different colors of spike tape — you may bring your own, but we will need to know the color in advance.)
• Set lights and sound — hook up your equipment, familiarize students with the sound and lighting staff and equipment.
• Allow performers and crew to get a feel for the space, find power, sound inputs, etc. 
• Your strike back into your 10x10 is part of your 20 mins.

It is our hope to have an assigned volunteer for each production to help direct you, answer basic questions, and keep time for you during your tech.

Performance Block

Dressing Rooms 

One hour before your time you will be able to get into your assigned dressing room(s).

On Deck 

At ten minutes before your GO, you will clear the dressing room(s). As soon as the side stages are clear of the prior show, you may move your set and props from your 10x10 into position to start your show. You will be able to set up stage left, stage right, and upstage of the indicated performance area if you wish.

At this point you will be able to send your board ops to the control area in the orchestra.

Once the respondents are ready, we will introduce you — school, state, and production, and then ask you “<Name of School>, ARE YOU READY?” We will wait for a response and then say “<Name of School>, YOUR TIME BEGINS...NOW,” at which point your time will begin.

Time will end when the stage is completely clear at the end of your play. We will have a minimum of two timekeepers and will compare times.

The company will come back out on stage and take a bow.

PLEASE, QUICKLY strike all your things back into your 10 x 10 and leave the backstage clear for the next group to be On Deck. This does not count as part of your time.

A volunteer will escort you to the Feedback Area for your optional verbal response if requested.

You do NOT need to remove the spikes after your performance.

Times will NOT be announced.

Load Out 

Because of the stage and loading dock configuration, each production will wait until the end of their performance block to LOAD OUT.

Starting a Show

For the pre-show process prior to each performance, this is the protocol Emcees and the Production Stage Manager (PSM) should use.

At 10 mins before GO:
Light Cue Pre-Show 0 (Emcee spot up, House to half, Works out)

• ON-DECK - The school moves from their 10 x 10 to the start lines as determined for the venue.
• The PSM supervises the move to the start lines (as defined according to the venue) and time keepers make a 5 minute and 2 minute call

Simultaneously

• Festival Emcee makes general announcements, (cell phones?, etiquette, school roll call, etc.)
• Festival Emcee introduces the upcoming production (Title, School, State) and announces any audience warnings (language, strobes, loud sounds, subject matter, etc.)

Light Cue “Pre Show 1” goes (Emcee Spot out, PSM Spot up, House to .25, Shift lights up)

• PSM makes sure Adjudicators and Respondent are in place.
• Gets thumbs up from the Board Ops.
• Asks loudly, “<School Name> Are you Ready?”
• Upon hearing a positive response (and making no comment on the response) The PSM announces loudly, “Your Time Begins NOW” and the timers start their stop watches.

Light Cue “Pre-Show 2” goes (PSM Spot and House OUT)

Light Cue 1 on Stage Managers Call (Act lights up)

When the Performance is ended and the acting area is completely clear, the timekeepers will stop their stop watches and yell CLEAR.

Tips

• Please plan to have a second informed adult to help you with the various logistics of the Festival.
• Some years, we are able to get into the venue early to make sure everything is set. You are welcome to come take a look at the space on Wednesday, though whether that is possible or not will not be known until Wednesday afternoon.
• While there are volunteers to help with the festival, they are generally part time and serve primarily as guides and liaisons. Please be patient with these volunteers. If you have questions about the Festival, please check with JERF. The Front of House staff at the Convention Center or Festival Venue may be a good resource for any local questions. Convention questions will need to be addressed at registration or the information desk in the Convention Center.
• Registration and checking-in in the past registration has not opened until 8 AM Thursday morning. It is essential that you have your credentials to get back in the auditorium once the performance blocks begin. It is encouraged to send a parent or someone to collect your badges as early as possible.

Safety Guidelines

SETC Secondary School Theatre Festival is considering a set of safety Guidelines or Rules to adopt for future festivals. This will be shared for discussion in the Secondary Division meeting.

As a transition we are adopting the following for the 2026 Festival in Chattanooga:

Purpose

The Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) is committed to ensuring that all participants, staff, and audience members experience a safe, professional, and supportive festival environment.

General Expectations

• All participants must follow the instructions of SETC staff, festival chairs, venue personnel, and safety officers at all times.
• Safety rules apply to rehearsals, performances, load-in/load-out, and any festival- related activities.
• Schools are responsible for the behavior and supervision of their students throughout the event.

Specific Requirements

• As always The Festival Director must be informed in advance about any Weapons used in your production. Any weapons are subject to inspection and approval by the festival director, and must be used under strict safety protocols. You are strongly encouraged to include your fight rehearsal as part of your tech time.
• Participants must wear closed-toe shoes during load-in, load-out, and backstage work.
• All production elements (Props, scenery, costumes, masks, etc) should be free of hazards (audibility, visibility, movement, falls, etc.) and safe for actors’ & technicians’ use during production.

As always, should circumstances arise, the production may be briefly stopped by the festival director or an adjudicator, to allow the situation to be corrected. Time will be halted and restarted as deemed appropriate by the Festival Director.

Safety Compliance Director

Going forward, it is proposed that a Safety Compliance Director be assigned to oversee and enforce published safety standards for Secondary School performances. The Safety Director will be in attendance backstage for all Technical Rehearsals and productions.

The SETC Safety Compliance Director oversees and enforces safety protocols for Secondary School Festival, ensuring that productions meet established safety standards. This role coordinates the Festival Director and the festival chair to identify and address potential hazards in scenery, props, costumes, and stage movement. The Safety Compliance Director serves as the primary authority on safety procedures, communicates violations to directors, and ensures corrective actions are taken to protect participants, crew, and audiences.

General Expectations

• All participants must follow the instructions of SETC staff, festival chairs, venue personnel, and safety officers at all times.
• Safety rules apply to rehearsals, performances, load-in/load-out, and any festival- related activities.
• Schools are responsible for the behavior and supervision of their students throughout the event.

Stage & Technical Safety

• Weapons (including stage combat items) must be clearly identified, approved by the festival technical director, and used under strict safety protocols.
• Any Stage Combat that occurs in the show will need to be included in your designated tech time.
• Participants must wear closed-toe shoes during load-in, load-out, and backstage work.
• Running backstage or in the wings is prohibited.

Compliance & Enforcement

• Failure to follow safety guidelines may result in loss of performance privileges, disqualification, or removal from the festival.
• The SETC Safety Compliance Director will be in attendance for all Tech Rehearsals.
• The SETC Festival Director reserves the right to halt any activity that poses a safety hazard.

Safety Compliance Inclusion

To ensure consistent and expert safety oversight, a Safety Compliance Director will be present for all Secondary School Festival.

Role & Qualifications

• The Safety Compliance Director will be positioned in the wings during the performance, monitoring with a list of published safety violations.
• This individual must hold a degree in scenic design, scenography, production management, or another relevant Design and Production (DPRO) field, or have commensurate professional experience.
• The state’s DPRO team will create the list of published violations.

Safety Violation Scoring

• Violations will have a numeric value of up to 15 points, ranging from “minor danger to the set, but no danger to cast/crew” to “immediate danger to persons—show must be stopped.”
• If the Safety Compliance Director determines that a production must be immediately stopped for safety reasons, the production clock will pause.
  
  • No time penalty will accrue for the pause.
  • A safety penalty will be applied that may significantly affect the school’s chance of advancing to the top two for SETC.

Correction Window

• Due to time constraints, a school whose production is paused will have 10 minutes to either Correct the safety issue to the satisfaction of the Safety Judge, or Remove the unsafe set piece from the stage entirely.
• If safety expectations are not met within the 10 minutes, the school will receive a “Non- continuation of Production” designation and must clear the set.

Adjudication Independence

• The Safety Compliance Director will not serve as one of the official adjudicators of the festival.
• The Safety Compliance Director and timekeepers’ results will be given to the festival director.

Venue Info

Location

The Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall is roughly ½ mile from the Chattanooga Convention Center. It is a very large venue and we plan to only use the lower orchestra for seating.

Parking

The venue will block off places for buses (up to 3) and trucks to park on the adjacent streets. We will need to know:

1. what vehicle(s) you are coming in, and
2. what time you will arrive

Food 

There are few if any nearby restaurants.

The venue discourages outside food but they understand the constraints schools are under. They will be offering lunches for pre-purchase.

Links and Forms

Documents required

• Picture of set onstage
• Picture of set in 10x10
• Picture of cast in costume labeled with both Actor & Character name
• 1-2 page program for Adjudicators & Respondent