CHOICE OF MATERIAL

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

• Time Limit – Schools must present one-act plays or approved cuttings that do not    exceed forty-minutes in length including time for audience reactions and scene changes.  Any play exceeding the time limit will be disqualified from advancing; however, cast and crew members will still be eligible for all star company awards.
• Royalties – Each school is responsible for obtaining written permission from the publisher and for paying appropriate royalties for each performance of its entry.  Allow enough time to obtain permission, as this can be a lengthy process.
• Permission to cut longer works must be obtained in writing.  Plays not in public domain require permission from the publisher to perform cuttings.  Contact the publisher of the play to inquire how to request permission to perform cuttings. MANY PLAYWRIGHTS WILL NOT PERMIT CUTS TO THEIR WORK.  Most publishers will require a very specific description of the cutting to be performed before giving permission.  Requests for    permission to perform cuttings may take up to two weeks or more for processing.  Any omission, addition or rearrangement of scenes, characters, scripted actions and language is considered a cutting and permission must be requested.      
• If a school fails to meet these requirements, it will not be allowed to advance to the next level of festival.
• Proof of permission to perform and of royalty payment must be submitted by the Director's Meeting in January.

 

• A school may not enter a play in Festival that it entered in the previous three years.
• A school may not enter a play title that was performed in the previous year's State Finals.

 

• If a production contains subject material, stage business or language that might not be appropriate for a general audience, the participating director must add a disclaimer to his/her program page.
• A play selected for entry must be approved by the participating school's principal as indicated by his/her signature on the Entry Form.

 

A musical or cutting from a musical is not permitted unless the publisher grants specific written permission for the play to be performed without the sung material.  Scene-change music, incidental music, background music, and songs which occur in the text of a non-musical play are permitted.  Dance is permitted if it occurs in the text of a non-musical play.  Interpretive movement, with or without music, is also permitted if it occurs in the text of a non-musical play.  In any case, all music and/or dance must have prior approval from the Guild President.  A use-of-music request form is given to all directors at the January Directors’ Meeting to be filled out that day and given to the Guild president.

STUDENT-DIRECTED PLAYS

Plays may be student directed. In this case, a faculty member or a designated adult, approved by the school and able to answer questions, must supervise and be in attendance at the January organizational meeting and at each additional round of festival.

COMPETITIVE VS NON-COMPETITIVE ENTRY

• Any school entering a competitive production is expected to continue to the Semi-finals, the Finals and New England's if selected.
• Schools may enter the preliminary round as a non-competitive entry.
• A non-competitive school will receive a written critique and is eligible for acting and technical awards.
• A non-competitive entry is not eligible to move on to a semi-final round.
   
   

GRADES

• All actors in a production must be undergraduates in grades 7- 12 in the same school district (except in the case of single-sex schools).
• No student may appear in two separate productions.
• Fifth-year students are eligible to participate if they are enrolled full time in the school district.
• Home schooled students may participate with any member school.

 

• All-boy or all-girl schools may draw upon students from another school/district for casting purposes only, provided that the latter is not entered in Festival.
• Should an all-boy and all-girl school draw upon each other, each school may enter its own production or enter jointly.

 

Substitutions in cast members from one festival level to another will be granted by the President only in cases of Council-approved emergencies.

SIZE OF CAST AND CREW

The maximum size of cast and crew, including all adult personnel and chaperones traveling with the production, cannot exceed 60. The ratio of students to adults may not exceed 10 to 1.
 

RIGHTS AND ROYALTIES

COPYRIGHTS

A work that is created on or after January 1, 1978 is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is given a term enduring for the author's life, plus an additional 50 years after the author's death.

For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works, the duration of copyright will be 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation, whichever is shorter. Works copyrighted before January 1, 1978 endure for a first term of 28 years and are eligible for renewal. The new copyright law has extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years.

ROYALTY PAYMENT

A performance royalty fee is due any time a play is performed in whole or in part for an audience, whether or not the audience pays admission, and no matter how small the audience might be.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Plays in the public domain may be performed without payment of royalty. These are usually plays that are over 100 years old, unless the author's family has renewed the copyright, or the written version of the play is copyrighted by the adaptor.
 
 
 

SETS

Any school may use necessary properties, scenery, special effects, and costumes to enhance its production. The following restrictions apply.

SIZE

• Such materials must be able to fit on the Host School's stage.
• The Host School must have the space to store such materials.
• The set must be designed to maneuver through standard single doorways.

SAFETY

The safety of students is paramount to the Guild.If elements of the set, uses of the set or props, blocking or any other element of a production seem to pose a physical hazard to the students, then the Guild reserves the right at each round of Festival to require modifications be made before the performance or before the next round of Festival.

The on-site supervisor has the right to make the final decision regarding appropriate safety measures, reserving the right to make a ruling on behalf of the Guild, and in cases of extreme safety issues, to halt or disqualify a show, following established Guild procedures. If in doubt, directors should bring potential safety issues to the attention of the Guild before a Festival, or to the attention of the day's supervisor at the morning directors' meeting.

• Each school is allowed a timed five-minute set-up and a five-minute strike of its set to and from the wings.  Each of these moves must be executed with every emphasis on the safety of the students involved.
• Scenery may be moved from storage to the wings and from the wings back to storage without being timed.  Schools must insure that the movement of sets to and from     storage does not delay the festival day schedule.
• There is to be no pre-assembly of any part of a set in the wings prior to the five-minute timing.

 

Since all schools must adhere to their Host School’s fire codes and regulations, the participating school must obtain approval from the Host School for the use of incendiary devices and/or smoke effects.

SET STORAGE

Set storage before or after the actual festival date is at the discretion of the Host School.

FLYING SCENERY

• Scenery that is flown must be attached/removed during the five-minute set-up/strike periods, unless the Host School has enough grid space to fly and conceal such scenery so as not to impede another school's production.
• The Host School has the right to determine set-up procedures for flying scenery in accordance with its safety regulations.

 

• Only students may be actively involved in the assembly of set materials on stage.
• The director may not touch the scenery during the set-up and strike, but he/she may be onstage in an advisory capacity.
• At no time may directors or any other adult technical personnel take part in the actual running of productions.
• No adults may be backstage during a production, with the exception of the Host School's technical staff.

 

The opening, closing, trimming or adjustment of curtains and teasers will not be timed or considered in any way to be part of the five-minute set-up period.
 

LIGHTING

Host Schools will provide an adequate general lighting plot that can accommodate the needs of participating schools.
 
 

SUPPLEMENTARY LIGHTING

Schools may bring supplementary lighting equipment only if:

• The host school must be able to accommodate and pre-hang such additional material (anything not pre-hung becomes part of the five- minute set-up).
• Such materials must be made available to all other productions at the site and made known to all participating directors at that site before their technical rehearsal.

 

• A reasonable amount of time needed to check or refocus special lights between productions will be permitted provided it does not interfere with the day’s schedule.
• Refocusing of lights will be restricted to specials only.
• General area lights may not be refocused.
• The time needed to refocus lights will not be included in the five- minute set-up period.

 

• Lights for a performance must be run by a student's) from the performing school unless otherwise restricted by the Host School.
• If a participating school has no students to run lights, it may request such assistance from the Host School.


 

OPERATION OF SOUND EQUIPMENT

• The Host School will provide adequate sound equipment.
• Sound for a performance must be run by a student's) from the performing school unless otherwise restricted by the Host School.
• If a participating school has no student's) to run sound, it may request such assistance from the Host School.

 

A participating school may bring supplementary sound equipment, with the following stipulations:

• The Host School must be able to accommodate and preset such equipment. (Anything not preset becomes part of the five-minute set-up period.)
• Such equipment must be made available to all participating schools at the site and made known to all participating directors at that site before their technical rehearsal.




 

Above all, inspire in your students a friendly and welcoming attitude about the entire experience. Take the opportunity to set a positive tone, which will carry right through the festival. Encourage your students to be good sports, to applaud all winners, to speak positively about their competitors, and to make new friends.
 
 

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