2015 National Festival of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival to Run 4/13-18

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts more than 150 outstanding theater students from colleges and universities across the nation as part of the 47th annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), which runs April 13-18, 2015 in multiple locations throughout the Center. Thousands of student artists from eight regions across the country presented their work at regional festivals from January 2 through February 27, 2015 and more than 150 were selected to travel to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for an expenses-paid trip to participate in the national festival.

The national festival includes short play readings featuring the finalists of the Gary Garrison National Ten-Minute Play Award as part of the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards showcase and the John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play; public auditions for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships; the opportunity for participants to take part in master classes and engage with colleagues from across the nation and the Washington, D.C. theater community; and a closing day ceremony for awards in production, directing, choreography, acting, writing, design, stage management, dramaturgy, and theater criticism. New this year, the Jane Alexander Award for Acting, sponsored by the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, will also be awarded during the scholarship and awards presentations of the Irene Ryan National Acting Scholarships held in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Friday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. Further details about the Jane Alexander Award for Acting are below.

Also this year, the festival will host student guests from Mexico and Canada. Two student guests are from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), the host school of the closest Mexican equivalent of KCACTF, to include Jesús Antonio Núñez (a designer) and Georgina Rocío Botello Gómez (a director). The festival will also host a student guest from the National Theatre School of Canada's Playwriting Conservatory in Montreal to include Cliff Cardinal (a playwright and performer). Mr. Cardinal will showcase a selection of his solo performance Huff.

Developed in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center's founding Chairman, the KCACTF encourages and celebrates the finest and most diverse theatrical productions from colleges and universities nationwide. The eight regional festivals and national festival provide an opportunity for college and university theater departments to present their work, especially new or student-written work, and to receive outside assessment. Since its establishment 47 years ago, KCACTF has reached millions of theatergoers and made important contributions to the professional development of countless college and university theater students nationwide.

For further information, please find the attached press release for the 2015 national festival of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.