The Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festiva l™

XXXV

Presented and Produced by

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

McLennan Theatre's Quake Included in 8 Best in USA This Year

Quake Wins National Honors

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), founded in 1969, is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide and has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents.

In the fall of 2002, McLennan Theatre's production of Melanie Marnich's Quake advanced from the Texas festival held at Texas A&M University, Commerce to the Region VI festival (Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana) hosted by TCU in February. The initial pool of 65 shows from the five states of Region VI was narrowed to a group of 23. These 23 productions were scrutinized by a panel of 13 committee members, who selected 7 shows to be performed at TCU in Fort Worth, including Quake . There are 8 regions in the nation, but national selections are based on the total production pool rather than selection of one winner from each site.

Quake was selected as one of the top 8 college production entries in America this year. A panel of three judges selected by the Kennedy Center and the KCACTF national committee, in consultation with the Kennedy Center Artistic Director , selected “the best and most diverse regional festival productions” to be showcased at the annual noncompetitive national festival at the Kennedy Center (April 13-20). Three productions performed last week. We are proud to have been selected as one of 4 alternates for the national festival and are the only community college in America to achieve this distinction in 2003 . The Theatre Department gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of our MCC Foundation support group “Hearts in the Arts” and the support of the college administration for this endeavor. Congratulations to our students!

Notes on the play »