Overview
The KCACTF focus on Devised Performance gives space, voice, recognition and credibility to processes and productions which are created outside the text-based traditions, and which utilize the non-traditional, non-linear, multi-disciplinary and collective tools of devising. As we develop our craft new perspectives and processes of creating good performance emerge. It is necessary for the health and life of performance to acknowledge and embrace non-traditional ways of perceiving and creating. Gregg Henry, the Artistic Director of the National KCACTF organization, has spear-headed this initiative, along with Rich Brown, to acknowledge and incorporate Devised Performance programming into the regional festival activities.
What is Devising?
What is Devised Work:
Devising is loosely defined as the process of collaboratively creating a new work without a pre-existing script wherein the collaborators are also the performers.
In the standard theatre model, a single playwright writes the text and then a director casts actors and selects designers to interpret that text, resulting in a theatre production. With devised theatre, however, the collective artists begin without a script. A devised piece of theatre can literally start with anything: a painting, a song, a real-life event, a novel to adapt, a KCACTF national prompt, a question, etc.
Tools for creating a devised work are unlimited and can be adapted from many disciplines including physical theatre, fine art, music, dance, technology, science, architecture, etc..
-From the Kennedy Center
Nathan Singh
Devised Performance Coordinator:
[email protected]
Devised Performance Co-Coordinator:
Rodney Lloyd Scott
[email protected]
DEVISED THEATRE at FESTIVAL 57
2025 Regional Theme: ‘FAILURE: A Success Story’
It’s something many are afraid to talk about, but we will all experience FAILURE sometime in our lives. When have we failed and how did we move through it?
Schedule & Important Dates:
Tuesday, Feb 11th – Saturday, Feb 15th, 2024, workshops each day to build a new theatrical piece together.
Presentation Date TBA
This year we are accepting students to participate in our Devised Performance Lab at the festival AND college’s to submit their own short devised work to be performed at the festival. Please see information & criteria below.
Devised Performance Lab at the Conference:
We are seeking devisers and those interested in devising to create a new theatrical work together. The Devised Theatre laboratory in Region 8 welcomes ALL students interested in exploring collaborative creation. Whether you are an experienced deviser or interested in learning about this process-oriented way of working, we have an exciting opportunity for you!
The 2025 Devised Performance program will be held in-person at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona.
8-10 students may join the Devised Theatre Ensemble (DTE) formed at the festival. Together with program director/KCACTF coordinators Nathan Singh & Rodney Lloyd Scott, as well as a guest devised theatre director, the ensemble will create an original piece which will be presented at the showcase.
If interested in participating, please fill out the above Intent to Participate form by January 20, 2025.
Colleges Submitting a Devised Work:
We are also accepting submissions for newly devised works that align with the theme of ‘FAILURE: A SUCCESS STORY’
To submit a devised performance, please complete the Devised Work Submission Form to have your work considered.
Chosen devised works will be presented at the festival during our Devised Performance Showcase (date/time TBA) Theme: ‘FAILURE: A Success Story’
If Interested in submitting, please fill out the Devised Work Submission Form by Jan 20, 2025
Considered pieces will be contacted by the Devised Performance coordinators for more information and details.
Submission Criteria:
- Must be affiliated with a Region 8 college or university
- Performances must be less than 15 mins long.
- Colleges and groups must provide their own scenic, props, costumes, and additional design elements (because it’s part of a festival, please keep these elements minimal for a fast set-up and strike)
- Size & parameters of stage will be given to chosen projects.
- The festival will provide the space, general lighting plot, and speaker for sound.
- Additional rehearsal space availability will have to be coordinated with the festival admins.
- You are responsible for rehearsing on your own prior to and at the festival.
If you have any questions, please email the program coordinator Nathan Singh at
[email protected]
Nathan Singh & Rodney Lloyd Scott
Devised Performance Coordinators
KCACTF National Devised Theatre Project
KCACTF DEVISED THEATRE PROJECT
Calling All Devisers! Come Create With Us!
The Devised Theatre Initiative in Region 8 welcomes ALL students interested in exploring collaborative creation. Whether you are an experienced deviser or just learning about this process-oriented way of working, we have an exciting opportunity for you!
Logistics/Parameters
Companies may submit a recorded version of their work. The company is responsible for submitting a link to the regional coordinator for the respondents to access their work .
Companies should adhere to the Devising Health & Safety Protocols & Guidelines
Contributions of the ensemble are to be balanced and evenly distributed
Not every member of the ensemble must perform, but the majority should
Faculty advisors may provide outside-eye feedback, but students should drive the work
Additional Information
Reminder:
Devising isn’t an aesthetic; it’s a process. This approach to creating new work includes multiple aesthetics, production value spectrums, and performance styles.
Schools may enter multiple groups for the devising project.