Early on Sunday, Feb. 18, the Linfield Theatre department packed up their things to go to Spokane to participate in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). This is an event that the theater department participates in every year in order for students to bring their work and skills to present for possible recognition. Most bring an acting piece and/or a singing piece, but this is not the only way to participate. There are also design presentations, where students can get critiqued on the elements that make up a show: lighting, sound, makeup and hair, set, etc. As a creative writer I went to present a 10-minute play I had written. Along with the competition aspect there are also daily workshops and events that students can participate in over the course of the week.
This was my first time participating in KCACTF, and therefore was not sure what to expect, especially given the fact that I was mostly there for writing and not the acting or design aspects. On the first full day of the festival, I began my day by meeting the professor who would be directing my play, Jeffrey Sanders. I was intimidated at first, I wasn’t sure what my role would be and how involved I would be throughout the process. I, however, did not have to worry. Sanders immediately let me know that he wanted my feedback throughout the week while we prepared for my presentation on Thursday. The rest of the morning was spent auditioning people for the show. They came in in waves and by the end we had auditioned about 90 people. Sanders and I conferred after discussing our top picks. As someone who hadn’t ever written a formal stage play before, it was exhilarating to be able to be there and cast the characters I had written.
Throughout the week I made an effort to go to any workshop that involved writing. This was not especially hard to do given that the workshops were somewhat limited for writing. I went to multiple workshops run by Jef Peterson, a theater professor from Idaho State University. As well as multiple workshops about negative stereotypes within writing. While the workshops were geared towards playwriting, I felt much of what I learned was universal to all forms of writing. I also found it a great opportunity to get access to knowledge from other professionals that I wouldn’t otherwise have access to at Linfield.
Throughout the week I also made an effort to attend some of the shows being performed. On Wednesday I attended both the matinee and evening show, both of which were the best shows I got to see. The matinee was a show being put on by Idaho State called “LifeX3” by Yasmin’s Reva. The show is about a shared dinner between two couples, throughout the play we see the same night played out three times, each a different way the night could play out. The actors were wonderful. The set was on a rotating wheel so that each version of the night played out from a different visual angle. This was perhaps my favorite part because I felt it fit the content of the show, giving the audience a visual cue for the different versions of the night. The evening show was “Pass Over” by Antoinette Nwandu, unlike the other shows during the week this show was put on by a local Spokane theater company, “Stage Left,” rather than a college. This show is a fast-paced and intense show about two black men who are trapped by racist societal structures. The play was both funny and devastatingly honest, and felt very fortunate to get the opportunity to see it performed.
On Thursday, I presented my 10-minute play alongside all of my fellow regional semi-finalists. While it wasn’t a full performance, but rather a staged reading, my actor still got to move about and bring my show to life on the stage. I could not have asked for a better cast to present my show “The Boss,” they committed fully to the ridiculous characters I had created, making the performance engaging and lively. While they performed I was filled with joy not only from my accomplishment of getting my play accepted to KCACTF, but also the joy fueled by the audience’s participation. I knew whether my play got picked to move forward or not, this moment of listening to the crowd laugh and cry out in surprise, was enough validation and enough inspiration for me to write more plays.