For Colleges, Festival Is an Institution of Higher Learning

It was a step toward what one director calls “the Rose Bowl of American educational theater.”

More than 200 college- and university-produced plays from five states had been entered in competition in the Region VIII conference of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, held here last week. Only 13 were accepted.

Two of them were from Orange County.

One entry was August Strindberg’s “Easter,” directed by third-year graduate student Christian Kiley, from Cal State Fullerton. The other, “Terminal,” written by Susan Yankowitz in collaboration with Joseph Chaiken and the Open Theatre, was directed by Daniel Bryan Cartmell, theater instructor at Chapman University in Orange.

At the prestigious event, they competed for the chance to go to the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Individual actors also competed to be finalists for Irene Ryan acting awards, founded by the star of “The Beverly Hillbillies,” who died in 1973.

While neither the Cal State Fullerton nor the Chapman University production was selected to move on to the finals, it was an honor and an educational experience just to compete in Cedar City, representatives from both schools said.

They were able to take their plays to Cedar City--with the hope of heading to Washington--with minimal problems because both productions had designed their stagings to travel.

“You’re comfortable in your little space, your little den,” said Cal State Fullerton’s Kiley. “Then having to move is very difficult. We were fortunate that the minimalist approach we took made it easier. It’s sort of a joyous experience. We were celebrating in the production.”

Dan Cartmell said his staging of Chaiken’s “Terminal” was easier to move, and he was grateful for the opportunity to give his students a valid impression of being “on the road.”

“This show,” Cartmell said, “was ultimately designed by the Open Theatre to travel. . . . I was thrilled that we got this far. Chapman University is finally being recognized for some kind of artistic achievement, and they’re very proud.”

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When presented in their original venues, both productions received glowing reviews from The Times.

At the regional conference, professionals gave workshops and responded to students’ work.

“The festival is not only dealing in a competitive environment,” said Fred Fate, chair of the Theatre Academy at Los Angeles City College and current chair of this competition’s Region VIII. “It also is one which provides opportunities for students from through the five-state region, where people get to network with each other, learn of each other’s work, and begin to understand the diversity of thought that goes on in this country. [This is particularly true] in the diversified nature of our own individual region, dealing with liberal perspectives and conservative perspectives, and beginning to appreciate each other’s work, beginning to realize where their strengths are in comparison to others.”

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True, it’s disappointing for actors, directors and production crews if they do not win the acting and play competitions, Fate said. But that, too, is instructional in the world of theater, he noted.

“Everybody’s got to understand that there are times in our lives when we don’t get what we want, as related to being on a cast list, or not being on a cast list, or not having a show that is selected, one that you have great faith in,” Fate said. “That’s part of the business. A person has to begin to understand that it’s not the end-all of one’s artistic life. It’s simply part of the journey, and there will be dips in the road as well as the highways that people can fly along.”

John Lion, director of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival and Youth and Family Programs, noted that sooner or later, when one is in theater, one is competing.

He said this festival has tried to tone down some of the more anxiety-producing types of competition. “Of course,” Lion said, “this doesn’t change the actual fact that someone’s going to win, and someone’s going to lose. But the general philosophy is that everyone who joins the American College Theatre Festival is a winner.

“When you add it all up,” Lion explained, “the experience is sort of universal, when you consider that there are 900 colleges, about half a million people participating, and there are 22,000 Irene Ryan acting entries. It’s really fair to say, without exaggeration, that this is the Rose Bowl of American educational theater.”