2024-03 News from Community Theatre

Good morning, Community Theatre Division!

Hope your 2024 has gotten off to a great start! If we have not met, my name is Anna Brown and I am your division chair for the South Carolina Theatre Association.

As we look ahead to the coming months, I’d like to draw your attention to a few upcoming events on our SCTA calendar. Speaking for myself, my schedule fills up FAST! I know advance notice is crucial, especially for folks working around productions.

First up is the Annual Awards Gala. This is an evening to recognize organizations and individuals for their impact on theatre in South Carolina. It’s also the primary social event for the Association, providing an excellent opportunity to meet folks from around the state, build comradery, and just learn what’s happening in other regions. The 2024 Gala will be in Columbia and is currently scheduled for Saturday, June 22nd. Keep an eye on the website and your inboxes for updates and ticket information. Personally, I love this event because it’s a rare chance to speak with other theatre practitioners face-to-face who are not from my area of SC. I also find the Gala to be a genuinely encouraging evening and always leave with a renewed passion for my theatre work.

The second event to note (and most important for our division) is the Community Theatre Festival. This takes place during the SCTA Convention, scheduled this year for November 7-10th in Orangeburg. If you’re not familiar with the festival, this event is an opportunity for community theaters from around the state to present a 60 minute production. A team of adjudicators will provide feedback and select a group to represent South Carolina at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC).

An added layer to the 2024 Festival is that this is an AACT (American Association of Community Theatre) year. A representative from AACT will attend the festival to ensure that we meet all necessary guidelines. The winning group this year will have the chance to advance further to the National AACT competition. Guidelines for both SCTA and AACT can be found here:  https://www.southcarolinatheatre.org/community

In order to hold a festival, we need a minimum of two theaters to participate. If you are an organization, please consider bringing a show to Orangeburg this year! As an encouragement, adjudication is primarily focused on the quality of the performance, not the quantity or spectacle of the production. For example, a group could bring a minimal show involving 1-2 actors and a bench. And there are countless options for material, including one-acts, cuttings of longer works, or the first act of a script. So please look over your existing season and consider if one of your productions would be a fit for the festival! And if you’re curious and would like to hear some first-hand experience, please let me know and I would be happy to connect you with previous participants.

If you are an individual or an organization that cannot bring a show to compete this year, please plan to attend the performances at the Festival! I would love to see a full house made up of audience members from across the state. Let’s make this event the central celebration of community theatre! In lieu of a festival last year, we held a forum to discuss selected topics relevant to community theaters. The discussion was encouraging and inspiring, so my goal is to coordinate a similar opportunity for dialogue at this year’s event. So whether or not you can participate in the Festival itself, come join the conversation!

More details about everything said here will follow in the coming months. In the meantime, please put these events in your planners and consider attending to get the most out of your SCTA membership!

For more information, check out the following:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southcarolinatheatre/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCTheatreAssoc
SCTA website: https://www.southcarolinatheatre.org/

If you have any questions, please reach out to either myself or our Executive Director, Anne Lavely, (ed@southcarolinatheatre.org).

I hope to meet each of you in person this year!

Anna Brown
Community Division Chair, South Carolina Theatre Association

(206) 617- 2773  |  annakathryn14@live.com  |  Greenville, SC