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About Us

Our Mission

Our Mission is to actively encourage the practice and enjoyment of the art of theatre in the State of West Virginia by:

  • Maintaining a working network of individuals who are interested in theatre;
  • Working to improve communications among theatre practitioners in the state;
  • Coordinating an annual theatre conference which includes workshops, screening auditions for college students interested in regional summer theatre employment, and festivals/competitions for high school and community theatres;
  • and Fostering online communication through this website and "wvtheatre" at Yahoo! Groups

Our History

The West Virginia Theatre Conference. a nonprofit West Virginia, tax-exempt corporation, was formed in 1975 by a group of college, university, and high school theatre directors who felt strongly that West Virginia needed a statewide theatre association. Many of these directors were already involved with the Southeastern Theatre Conference, which is the largest regional theatre conference in the country. SETC encompasses Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1975 West Virginia was the only state that did not have an official state theatre association.     

Initially, WVTC worked closely with the West Virginia Division of Culture and History on an annual community theatre festival. Commissioner Norman Fagan felt strongly that the Division of Culture and History should take the major responsibility for such a festival and, beginning in 1977, it was held every other year at the Cultural Center. Fagan funded the festival and paid all the travel expenses of the competing community theatres.     

At this same time an annual secondary schools theatre festival was sponsored by West Virginia University in the spring. This later became the state Thespian Festival which is now held at various sites throughout the state.     

One of the ancillary purposes of both festivals was to provide a means of selecting winning high school and so community theatres to represent West Virginia at the Southeastern Theatre Conference which is held every March. Since the Cultural Center was only committed to sponsoring the community theatre festival every other year, WVTC began to sponsor it as part of the annual convention in those “off years.” In 1986, after much discussion between WVTC Board members and the Division of Culture and History staff, it was decided that WVTC would take over sponsorship of the festival completely. This coincided with the Cultural Center’s cut-back on the events they sponsored directly and the “de-centralization” of many of their activities.