Festival

Come join us for the only high school drama festival in Connecticut!

What is the Connecticut Drama Festival?

As the only high school drama festival in Connecticut, CDA's Festival is an event in which high schools from around the state come to perform and compete with a non-musical one-act play of their choosing. In addition to performing for their peers and general audience, a panel of adjudicators will provide valuable feedback to each production, helping students and directors grow as theatre artists. Students and directors also participate in forums where they can share feedback and ideas on each production, as well as explain their creative process and experiences with one another. Theatre workshops are also offered to expand students' crafts. What's unique about the Drama Festival as it differentiates from other CT Theater Awards like Halos (other than the fact that it is non-musical) is that it gives high school students a glimpse of what it takes to put on a traveling show. Schools are challenged to take their productions beyond their familiar auditorium or black box — packing up their show, taking it on the road, and learning to adapt their performance to a new space and audience. It's also a great way for students to see that they are a part of a larger theater community outside of their individual school: connecting with other young theatre artists from around the state and celebrating their shared passion for the stage.

2027 Drama Festival - When & Where?

The 2027 One-Act Drama Festival will be hosted at Ellington High School: 37 Maple St, Ellington, CT 06029

Date: To Be Determined

Interested? Sign me up!

To enter the festival, your school must join as a member school and then submit the Festival Entry Form by the due date. Any non-musical one-act play of 45 minutes or less is eligible. Also allowed are 45 minute cuttings of longer plays.

Once you have applied for the Festival, the following documents are due at our Festival Tech Meeting (date still TBD). A representative from every participating school must be in attendance. These forms will be emailed to you upon receipt of your Festival Entry Form.

Final Registration Form
Chaperone Registration Sheet
Festival Effects Form
Program Info
Student Information and Registration Forms (for each student participating)
Technical Adjudication Registration Form (if submitting a student for technical adjudication)

An Overview of Festival Rules:

For more specific rules & regulations as well as a sample schedule, see the attached documents below.

Performance:

Your show must be entirely performed by students, including tech operations. Staff and adult advisors must remain in the audience or public areas for its entirety. Your school is given 45 minutes for your performance and will be told over headset when timing has begun, you may then begin your first cue. A 10, 5 and 1 minute warning will be given over headset. If your performance is five minutes passed your allotted time, the house lights will be brought up and your performance will be over. Performers are are expected to project their voices as microphones will not be used, though a God mic will be available backstage. An aux will be available for sound effects. Your lighting cues will be preset but you must provide your own board operators. Availability for specific technical elements may dependent on the host school and discussed at the technical meeting prior to the event.

Load-In & Tech Period:

Right before performing, you will have time to load your sets into the theater followed by a 15-minute technical rehearsal in order to get accustomed to the space, build your set, test your lighting, etc. Your specific "load-in" and tech time will be specified in the festival schedule. You will be giving 10, 5, and 1 minute warnings out loud and via headset. Your school is given 4 headsets. Once your tech time is over, no further teching is permitted: cast and crew must remain backstage or in the lighting/sound area and are not permitted to leave the theater to go to the hallway, dressing room, etc, once the tech period over. These spaces are accessible during the 15 minute tech period. Costume & Makeup prep in the green room will happen before load-in. Staff and adult advisors are allowed to help students during the 15 minute tech period, but must remain in audience areas once tech time is over.

Strike & Load-Out:

You will tell CDA over headset when your show is complete. We will then end timing, bring up the house lights, and begin timing your strike period. Your school has 5 minutes to strike the stage and lighting/sound areas. Everything must be put back exactly how it was found, leaving nothing behind. Headsets must be returned. There will be a designated area beyond the backstage door for your set, props, cast, and crew. Once everything and everyone has left the theater, timing will end. Staff and adult advisors are not allowed to assist with strike. Adjudication will follow strike, and then you will load your set out of the building. Your set, props, costumes, and all other items must be removed from the building by the end of your “load out” time, as noted on the schedule. You may pull up cars, trucks, and trailers to the load out door to expedite this process.

Adjudication & Awards:

Adjudication will take place immediately following your performance (after strike, before load-out) where your cast, crew, and staff/advisors will meet with the three judges. This adjudication time is also open to audience members to listen in. Adjudicators are given 15 minutes to ask questions, give comments, notes, and praise to the students & directors. Written feedback will be provided to your school after the event has concluded. After all schools have performed, judges will deliberate and there will be an award ceremony including commendations to your fellow performers. Each school will also be asked to share some kind words about a fellow performance as assigned to you. These will be read during the ceremony. Your school will be given trophies and certificates to acknowledge your winnings! The top two winning performances will be asked to represent Connecticut at the New England Drama Festival, a three day drama festival in which two high schools from each state perform their one-act plays. If your school is asked to go on to NEDF, there may be grant money from CDA to help your school cover the cost of attending (travel, food, etc.) - details on this are still TBD. Each state festival adheres by their own rules so there may be changes in the logistics and length of your tech period, performance, and strike times. Specifications of this would be provided to your school upon your acceptance to attend NEDF. The 2027 New England Drama Festival will be held in Maine!

Forums:

Forums are a wonderful way for students to share their love of theater with each other! After a few shows have performed, students will break up into forum groups with one or two students from each school. Led by a host school representative, each show that was performed will have specific time to hear feedback and commentary from their peers, as well as share any insights into their process or ask questions about the way something on stage was read by the audience. Forums are a highlight of Festival!

Festival Rules and Regulations

Sample Festival Schedule

Hosting the Connecticut Drama Festival

Host the Festival!

Hosting the Connecticut Drama Festival may seem like a big undertaking, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to showcase your school and theatre program to students, educators, and theatre artists from across the state. Bring the Festival to your community, give your students the chance to take on a leadership role, and help create an unforgettable experience for hundreds of young theatre artists. It's a lot of fun and there’s no better way to show off what your school and theatre program can do!

Hosting Overview

What does it mean to Host the only high school drama festival in Connecticut?

The entirety of the festival would take place at your school/facility (this includes performances, workshops, forums, & meals)
You school gets to pick the specific dates of when the festival will take place (provided it is during the spring and before the New England Drama Festival)
You and your students would be in charge of giving the initial welcome, hosting icebreakers, clarifying rules & audience etiquette, ensuring visiting schools feel welcome and have what they need, giving tours of the space (specifically forum rooms, load-in & out, and dressing rooms), and running student forum groups.
Your school would hold a mandatory Tech Meeting for all participating schools at least 1 month before the festival
You will program your light board ahead of time, saving each show as a separate file
You would provide a "tech staff" (students who are very well trained on the light & sound board) to help visiting schools with technical needs
You would run some sort of concluding large group workshop for all the schools to participate in while adjudicators deliberate. Oftentimes this is a big school dance on stage or in the gym

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I charge a rent fee for the use of my space?

No, if your school or facility requires a rental fee for the use of your space, then it may not be the right fit to host the Festival. Hosting the festival is a volunteer opportunity. However, you may (and should) charge admission (by day) to the general audience such as outside visitors & parents coming to watch the performances (do not charge the performing schools). You may also sell concessions!

Do I need to be in charge of scheduling, gathering participating schools' payments, finding teachers for workshops, and adjudicators?

No. Those things will be handled by the Festival Director (a CDA member outside of the hosting school).

Does my school need to pay for everyone's food?

While you are in charge of determining some kind of meal plan, food will be paid for through the students' registration fees.

What are the physical needs of the festival that my facility needs to meet in order to host?

Your space must have:

An auditorium with seating minimum of 400 people
8-10 classroom spaces for workshops/forums
2 Dressing Room spaces (such as green rooms, or often band & choir rooms)
1 large space (like a gym) for icebreakers at the beginning and large workshop at the end
Cafeteria space for eating (food can be catered through the school's dining services or food can be brought in)
Basic Rep Plot for lights (all schools use the same rep plot, no need for refocusing)

Interested in Hosting? Let us know!!

Send us an email at CTDramaAssoc@gmail.com and let's get hosting!

Festival Photo Gallery:

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