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Bring Your School's Show to Festival!

Click here for the online Full-Length/Showcase Production Application!
(form only to be completed by teachers/sponsors)
The production application deadline is Friday, September 12, 2008. See below for details.

The intent of the IHSTF play selection process is to feature productions from all across the state, providing students with exposure to a wide variety of theatrical forms and production styles, including musicals.

The Festival is NOT a competition. There are no "rankings" of first, second, etc. Plays do not come to the Festival in competition with each other, but as part of a cooperative effort to bring a diverse sampling of high school theatre from throughout the state. Performance at the Festival should be seen as an honor and an opportunity to share students' talents and accomplishments with their peers.

A school may elect to present either a Full-Length or a Showcase production to be reponded to by a two- or three-member response team at the presenting school.

The selection process is NOT a contest. A wide variety of factors are considered in the criteria for selection used by the Play Selection Committee:

• the type and size of production
• the school size and geographical area/representation
• the overall rating by the respondents who view the production in your theatre
• the appropriateness of the play for the performers
• the educational value and relevance to the Festival audience
• the feasibility of transporting the production to the Festival

A FULL-LENGTH production is performed in a traditional theatre space, using theatrical lighting, sound, stage, costumes, sets, props, etc. For example, you might choose to submit your school's fall play for the response process as a Full-Length production. You will have 3 hours of set-up time (not necessarily consecutive) and 1 hour to strike. Note: Some adjustments will have to be made, because no performance space is exactly the same.

A SHOWCASE production is a shorter presentation, running 60 minutes or less. It is often performed in smaller theatre spaces or non-traditional stage areas. Showcase productions may be plays, cuttings from plays, original scripts, experimental projects, mime, oral interpretation, student-directed one-acts, excerpts from your school's musical, compilations of drama, poetry, music, dance, etc. Showcase productions use small sets (or no sets), and lighting is usually general lighting. Costumes, props, some sound, etc. may be used. You will have 15 minutes to set up and 15 minutes to strike.

A fee is required to submit a production for the Festival reponse process ($65 for Showcase, $80 for Full-Length). The application fee must be received at least one week prior to your performances. If the fee is not received, the production will not be responded to.

Click here for complete information on the Play Selection Process (PDF from April Mailing).

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Become a Play Respondent!

We are always looking for people who are willing to respond to high school Full-Length and Showcase productions and to recommend whether or not they should be selected for performance at the 2009 Festival. Respondents will be asked to attend a performance (free of charge, of course) at a school near their home, meet with the cast, crew, and director for a post-show discussion, and complete a written response. Respondents may earn 1-4 hours of graduate credit through Illinois State University.

Click here for the online Production Respondent Interest Form!

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UIUC Performance Spaces

Click here to see pictures of the performance spaces at the University of Illinois.