SETC’s Community Theatre Festival — a multi-day performance festival held each year during the annual SETC Convention — features community theatres representing the 10 southeastern states.
2020 Community Theatre Festival
The 2021 Community Theatre Festival will take place as part of the 72nd annual SETC Convention in Memphis, TN. If your community theatre group is interested in participating in 2021, check with your state organization to learn how to get started at the state level.
Location:
TBA
Questions?
For more information, please contact:
Libby Riggins
Community Theatre Festival Chair
Email Libby Riggins
Tom Booth
Community Theatre Division Chair
Phone: 662-844-1935
Email Tom Booth
April J’C Marshall
SETC Professional Theatre Services
Phone: 336-272-3645
Email April
Congratulations to our 2020 winners!
- Best Production: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – SPARK Theatre Company, AL
- Best Production: The Gulf – South City Players, AL
- Best Actor: Paul Ruff, A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney – Starkville Community Theatre, MS
- Best Actress: Riley Turberville, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – SPARK Theatre Company, AL
Testimonials
“As director of a new theatre company, I’ve found the SETC Community Theatre Festival to be constructive, well-run and a terrific way to network and grow. Actors for Children Theatre has had an enjoyable experience the past two years and we hope to be back!”
– Sarah Diamond Burroway, Actors for Children Theatre
2020 Festival Respondents
Hadley Kamminga-Peck Currently the theatre historian and head of directing at Western Illinois University, She completed her PhD in theatre history and criticism at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2015. She received her BA in drama and Italian from Colorado College and her master’s degree in acting from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, and is also a member of the 2019 Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab.
Tammy Killian WIU’s chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, Tammy Killian is a native of Alabama. She received her BAs in Theatre/Art from Birmingham-Southern College, and her MFA in Acting/Theatre from Florida Atlantic University Last year at WIU, Tammy was seen on stage as Louise in Always…Patsy Cline the “2018 Faculty Feature.” She was one of the directors for SHOWCASE: New Friends 20142019, and has produced 80 productions during her tenure at WIU. Recently, Tammy was featured on Hong Kong Sleepover’s song Roller Derby Girls on their Butcher & Bolt album. Currently, Tammy is producing and directing BYOP Bring Your Own Play which is WIU’s New Play Festival
Amy Wratchford is the managing director of the American Shakespeare Center. Before joining the ASC, Amy served as managing director of Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta. Previously, she worked in a number of capacities in theatre in New York City including producer, director and actor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Acting from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University and an MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College. Amy has lectured on finance, budgeting and nonprofit governance for Mary Baldwin University’s MFA program in Shakespeare in Performance and others.
Thursday Performances – Feb. 27, 2020 – Block 1
1:00 PM – 2:35 PM
Just Outside the Door
Florida – Gainesville Community Theatre
Written by Esteban R. Alvarez III, Directed by Leannis Crutchfield
The story of Robert and his abuela. When Robert finds out that his abuela is dying, he does the most reasonable thing he could possibly imagine … he kidnaps her. While he does so in an effort to help her get better, Robert must also learn how to deal with grief, depression, and self-acceptance before it is too late.
2:35 PM – 4:10 PM
The 39 Steps
South Carolina – The Market Theatre Company
Written by Patrick Barlow, John Buchan, Directed by Drew Whitley
The play’s concept calls for the entirety of the 1935 adventure film The 39 Steps to be performed with a cast of only four. One actor plays the hero, Richard Hannay, an actress (or sometimes actor) plays the three women with whom he has romantic entanglements, and two other actors play every other character in the show: heroes, villains, men, women, children and even the occasional inanimate object. This often requires lightning fast quick-changes and occasionally for them to play multiple characters at once. Thus the film’s serious spy story is played mainly for laughs, and the script is full of allusions to (and puns on the titles of) other Alfred Hitchcock films, including Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest.
4:10 PM – 5:45 PM
The Lion in Winter
Georgia – Dalton Little Theatre
Written by James Goldman, Directed by Melissa Adams
Christmas 1183 at Henry II of England’s castle in Chinon, Anjou,. Tthe play opens with the arrival of Henry’s wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he has had imprisoned since 1173. The story concerns the gamesmanship between Henry, Eleanor, their three surviving sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John, and their Christmas Court guest, the King of France, Philip II Augustus, (son of Eleanor’s ex-husband, Louis VII of France). Also involved is Philip’s half-sister Alais (by Louis VII’s second wife Constance), who has been at court since she was betrothed to Richard at age eight, but has since become Henry’s mistress.
Friday Performances – Feb. 28, 2020 – Block 2
1:00PM – 2:35PM
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
North Carolina – Bean Stalk Community Theatre
Written by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn, Directed by Andrea McDonough
With an engaging, tuneful score by William Finn and a sweet, funny book by Rachel Sheinkin, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee causes audiences to fall in love, both with the show itself and its “perspicacious,” “jocular,” and “effervescent” spellers.
2:35PM – 4:10
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Alabama – SPARK Theatre Company
Written by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn, Directed by Caleb Brooks
With an engaging, tuneful score by William Finn and a sweet, funny book by Rachel Sheinkin, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee causes audiences to fall in love, both with the show itself and its “perspicacious,” “jocular,” and “effervescent” spellers.
Friday Performances – Feb. 28, 2020 – Block 3
6:30 PM – 8:05 PM
‘night, Mother
Mississippi – Tupelo Community Theatre
Written by Marsha Norman, Directed by Tom Booth
Jessie’s father is dead; she is epileptic and unemployable, her loveless marriage ended in divorce; her absent son is a petty thief and ne’er-do-well; her last two jobs failed and, in general, her life is stale and unprofitable. As the play begins Jessie asks for her father’s service revolver and calmly announces that she intends to kill herself. At first her mother refuses to take her seriously, but as Jessie sets about tidying the house and making lists of things to be looked after, her sense of desperate helplessness begins to build.
8:05 PM – 9:40 PM
Your’e a Good Man Charlie Brown
Kentucky – Paramount Players
Written by Clark Gesner and John Gordon, Directed by Melanie Cornelison-Janotta
The whole gang is here: bossy Lucy is hopelessly in love with piano prodigy Schroeder who doesn’t give her the time of day, perfectionist Sally is still mocking blankettoting Linus, Snoopy is in the doghouse, and “blockhead” himself, Charlie Brown, is in rare form. Brief vignettes span the months from Valentine’s Day to Beethoven Day, from wild optimism to utter despair. Whether you’re keen to fly with the Red Baron, moon over the Moonlight Sonata, or just do your best to find “Happiness.”
9:40 PM – 11:15 PM
The Gulf
Alabama – South City Theatre
Written by Audrey Cefaly, Directed by Lisa Ponder
The divide between Kendra and Betty mimics the very world that devours them: a vast and polarizing abyss. On a quiet summer evening, somewhere down in the Alabama Delta, Kendra and Betty troll the flats looking for red fish. After Betty begins diagnosing Kendra’s dead-end life with career picks from What Color is Your Parachute, their routine fishing excursion takes a violent turn. The play takes place on a fishing boat in the state of Alabama.
Saturday Performances – Feb. 29, 2020 – Block 4
9:50AM – 11:25AM
Stranger, Danger, Promise and Pledge
Kentucky – Village Players of Fort Thomas
Written by A.K. Forbes, Directed by Angela Klocke Forbes
Stranger – or are they? Danger – but who is at risk? Promise and Pledge – new journeys begin with something as formal as an oath or as simple as a shared understanding. Four scenes, all taking place within the intimate space of a shared bed, explore mostly humorous connections and disconnections between couples at various stages of attachment. Note: adult language and themes.
11:25AM – 1:00PM
A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney
Mississippi – Starkville Community Theatre
Written by Lucas Hnath, Directed by Gabe Smith
Tonight, Walt is going to read you a screenplay he wrote. It’s about his last days on earth. It’s about a city he’s going to build that’s going to change the world. And it’s about his brother. It’s about everyone who loves him so much, and it’s about how sad they’re going to be when he’s gone. Right? I mean, how can they live without him? How can anyone live without him?
The 2019 Community Theatre Festival was held Feb. 28 – March 2, 2019 at Austin-East Magnet High School as part of SETC’s 70th annual convention in Knoxville, TN. Performances were free and open to the public. Donations were accepted at the door to support Austin-East High School’s performing arts wing.
Congratulations to our 2019 winners!
- Best Production: Romeo and Juliet – Mill Town Players, SC
- Best Production: The Diviners – Wetumpka Depot Players, AL
- Best Actor: Greg Vander Wal, Of Mice and Men – The Actor’s Charitable Theatre, AL
- Best Actress: Lola Bond, Mud – Actors Warehouse, FL
Thank you to ALL community theatres that participated in 2019:
- Alabama: The Actor’s Charitable Theatre, Of Mice and Men
- Alabama: Wetumpka Depot Players, The Diviners
- Florida: Actors’ Warehouse, Inc., Mud
- Georgia: Dalton Little Theatre, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- Georgia: Lafayette Society for the Performing Arts, John Lennon & Me
- Kentucky: Paramount Players, Forever Plaid
- Kentucky: Theatre Workshop of Owensboro, Morte for 2
- Mississippi: Fondren Theatre Workshop, I and You
- Mississippi: The Center Players Community Theatre, Tea for Three
- South Carolina: Guerrilla Shakespeare Theatre Company, Never Swim Alone
- South Carolina: Mill Town Players, Romeo and Juliet
- Tennessee: The Backstage Series of the Cookeville Performing Arts Center, Scott and Hem
2019 Adjudicators
Amy Wratchford
Amy Wratchford is the Managing Director of the American Shakespeare Center. As the company’s chief administrative and financial officer, Amy oversees finance, marketing, development, and other business management functions for the ASC. During her tenure the ASC’s budget has grown from $2.4M in 2010 to $4.0M in 2019. Before joining the ASC, Amy served as Managing Director of Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta. Previously, she worked in a number of capacities in theatre in New York City including producer, director, and actor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Acting from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University and a master’s in fine arts degree in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College. Amy has lectured on finance, budgeting, and nonprofit governance for Mary Baldwin University’s MFA program in Shakespeare in Performance and others.
T.K. Lee
T.K. Lee’s award-winning work crosses multiple genres: both on stage and off. At times a playwright, and other times a poet, he is at all times firmly planted in the southern tradition of gothic storytelling. His work has appeared in national publications including The Louisville Review, Carolina Quarterly and Deep South Magazine, to name a few. Internationally, his short fiction has been translated into French and Italian, and, in 2018, selections of his poetry, short fiction and playwriting were anthologized for the first time, through two collections published in the U.K.
Lee has also won accolades for his work in theatre, including here at SETC as well as AACTFest. His award-winning credits include turns taken as director (for 2009’s SETC winner Catfish Moon and other honors at AACTFest Tacoma), as actor (for 2017’s winner Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and other nominations at AACTFest Rochester), and as playwright (for 2018’s SETC winner Paper Thin).
After receiving his MFA in 2015 from Spalding University in Louisville, KY, he immediately joined the faculty in the nascent MFA in Creative Writing program at Mississippi University for Women, teaching both undergraduate literature and creative writing, as well as playwriting and poetry. His first collection of poetry, entitled To Square a Circle, debuted this past October at the Eudora Welty Symposium and has garnered high critical praise for Lee’s “uncanny wit; impeccable sense of pacing” which is ushering in “a dynamic new voice to southern poetry.”
On a personal note, he has three cats (Peej, Beeze and YinBin) because he was a nice guy that one time and fed them…and now they won’t leave. In fact, they’ve been not leaving for the last six years, four years, and going on three months, respectively.
James Alexander Bond
James Alexander Bond holds a BFA in Theatre Management from Ithaca College and an MFA in Directing from the University of California at Davis. From New York to England and regionally across America, James has directed more than 200 productions, including over half of Shakespeare’s canon.
