West Virginia Community
Theatre Festival
Each fall, West Virginia community theatre companies have an
opportunity to strut their stuff at the West Virginia Community Theatre Festival
presented in conjunction with the West Virginia Theatre Conference.
A distinguished panel of judges selects a winner from among the
entries, and the winning theatre company represents West
Virginia at the Southeastern Theatre Conference held the
following March. WVTC offers a stipend to the
winner to offset the expenses of traveling to the Southeastern
Theater Conference.
Each company to perform is
allowed Rehearsal/Technical Time of 80 minutes in the
performance space. The rehearsal time includes set-up from
and strike to the on-deck area of all show related items. This
time will be in reasonable proximity to the performance time.
Rehearsal attendance will be restricted to the company in
rehearsal, the festival technical staff, the Festival Chair, the
Festival Commission Representative, and any other personnel
requested
by the rehearsing company. No one else will be permitted in the
house, on the stage, in the control booths, or in the backstage
area during this rehearsal period without the specific
permission of the rehearsing company, the Festival Chair and the
Festival Commission Representative.
Each performing company
has a maximum of 10 minutes to set-up, 60 minutes to perform,
and 10 minutes to strike. Each has a free choice of material (a
one-act, a cutting, a selected act, etc.). The total length of
the performance may not exceed sixty minutes (including
introductions, scene changes, and curtain calls). Anything that
brings the audience into the world of the play (music, sound,
movement, lights, etc.) will begin the sixty-minute performance
time. The complete cessation of such will complete the timing
period. If a set-up or strike is intended to set mood, establish
character, or entertain the audience in any way, it will be
considered part of the sixty-minute performance time. It
is inadvisable to enter material that may require more than
fifty-five minutes to perform. Audience response may add time."
Contact
Francine Kirk
for more information.
(sign language or other personnel-based
accommodations require 30 day advance notice)
2007 Community Theatre Festival
The Charleston Stage Company's production
of The Exonerated won the top prize at the 2007
West Virginia Theatre Conference Community Theatre
Festival. It was directed by Susan Marrash-Minnerly,
chair of the Department of Communications at West
Virginia State University. The cast included: Will
Taylor, Dan Heyman, Michelle Goins, Emanuel Ross,
Natasha Harris, Joe Miller, Erin Kishpaugh, John
Halstead. John Thomas, Ashley Wilhelm. It was stage
managed by Emily Alice Dunn.
With David Wohl substituting for John
Thomas who could not attend, the cast and crew took to
the road to compete against productions from ten other states
March 8, 2008 in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the
Southeastern Theatre Conference. And they won!
In addition to taking top honors for the production
itself, Susan Marrash-Minnerly won the award for Best
Director. Cast members John Halstead, Joe Miller,
and Will Taylor were singled out for Excellence in
Acting, and the entire cast were honored with an award
their work as an "Outstanding Ensemble."
The Exonerated, by Jessica Blank
and Erik Jensen, tells the real stories of six people
placed on death row, some for decades, before being
absolved of the crimes and freed. Using a variety of
letters, court transcripts, interviews and other
materials, the play examines both the justice system and
its effect on people’s lives.
The play is presented on an intentionally
bare stage, set with a simple line of black chairs. The
whole cast is on stage for the entire production, which
is preformed in one long act without interruption. The
director says her intention was always to let the
stories speak for themselves. The cast of nine includes
three West Virginia State University students, three
WVSU alums and one student at Marshall. She says there
are no weak performances in the group. “One of the
amazing things to see is how well the cast works
together,” says Marrash-Minnerly. “You can see their
performances building on each other. At the end when the
characters are talking about what they’ve lost, and how
they’ve learned to partially transcend their
experiences, it’s a very emotional moment.”
The cast of The Exonerated
l to r: Ashley Wilhelm, Dan Heyman, Michelle Goins, Joe
Miller, Bryant McAllister, Will Taylor, Erin Kishpaugh,
Emmanuel Taylor, Tasha Harris, John Halstead, John
Thomas |
