Drama: One Acts

Description of Event

L.E.S.T. Northwest offers an opportunity for schools to prepare and present scenes or one-act plays in juried competition. The schools that achieve a certain point level on the adjudication forms will receive an “Outstanding Performance” award, presented at the L.E.S.T. Closing Ceremony. In addition, the director of each drama presented will receive comments from the jury to share with students. These comments will be contained on the adjudication forms. Drama is considered a spectator event that will require anyone over the age of 18 to present an L.E.S.T. Tournament Pass to be in the audience. Passes may be purchased at schools at a reduced rate before to L.E.S.T. or at L.E.S.T. at the full rate, with full tournament and one-day passes available.  The L.E.S.T. Tournament Pass is good for any spectator event at the L.E.S.T.

Logistics

The area for the performance should measure no larger than 20 ft. wide by 15 ft. deep.  The area will be lit with a general wash, which may be brought up or blacked out. There will be no special or spot lighting available.   

How to Participate

All teams must be pre-registered by the deadline. Registration details and deadlines are found on the Registration Page.

Registration for Drama: One Acts, must include the name of the performance piece and the first and last name of all actors.

Each school should indicate on the L.E.S.T. General Registration Form their intention to participate in the Drama Competition. Each school may also submit a program page which lists the title of the play, the cast list, the school’s name, etc. You are encouraged to use student artwork on this sheet. An electronic program will be created from these program pages for the drama performance. The program will be available here on the website. 

Requirements

1. Schools must clear royalty issues with the play’s agent. L.E.S.T.  is not responsible for any royalty infractions or royalty payments. We strongly encourage you to contact the publishing house (Samuel French, Anchorage Press, etc.) to determine whether royalties are applicable. Be sure to inform them that this is a juried competition with educational outcomes, and that admission is charged.
2. Bring any props or costumes needed for the production, remembering that each school will be limited to five (5) minutes of set up before and five (5) minutes of take down time after the performance. 
3. You are encouraged to use understudies for any actor or actress who may find themselves in the position of needing to decide between performing on the stage or participating in another L.E.S.T. event. THE SCHEDULE WILL NOT BE CHANGED BECAUSE OF EVENT CONFLICTS.
4. It would be very helpful if you would bring two extra scripts to your L.E.S.T. performance, one for the adjudicators and one for the person controlling the lighting.

Guidelines for the Selection of Scene or One Act Play

1. It should be a contemporary script (post-1930). 
2. It must be no longer than 20 minutes in length. (The performance will be halted at 20 minutes.) 
3. No musicals or original scripts are allowed. 
4. There will only be five (5) minutes to set up and five (5) minutes to take down the set for the performance. Plan accordingly. 

Criteria for Juried Comments and Adjudication

The jury will consider the following when writing comments and when choosing the recipients of the awards: 

• Voice/Projection
• Blocking and Movement
• Preparation/Improvisation
• Facial Expression/Body Language
• Characterization
• Ensemble
• Set/Costumes/Technical Elements 

Points             Placement     Award             

22-28             First                Blue                

15-21              Second                                  

4-14               Third                                      

Actors are adjudicated on their own performance, not compared to other performers. Awards will be given for blue ribbon winners. The adjudicators’ scoring sheets, with valuable comments, will be given to each school at the closing of L.E.S.T. Northwest. 

It is important that adjudicators write a complete evaluation. They should not wait until the one-act is completed to begin writing constructive feedback! Writing during students’ performances is permitted. It is critical for the contestants and their coaches to have the educational feedback that justifies adjudicators’ decisions. Adjudicators must strive to be objective in their ratings, not allowing personal opinions or biases regarding an idea or particular selection to predetermine their impression of a student’s presentation.