REGION VII
The Stage Directors and
Choreographers Society (SDC)
Student Directing Fellowship
Eligibility: To be eligible for the SDC student directing fellowship students must be nominated by a faculty member from the student’s institution. Nominated students must have demonstrated excellence in direction. The institution must have entered either an associate or participating production for the regional festival during the year in which the nomination occurs. The participant must be a bona fide student at the time of the regional festival.
Scene: The list of scenes for the upcoming KCACTF Region 7 festival in Reno, NV (Feb. 15-19, 2010) include:
Boys Life by Howard
Korder
Dramatists
Scene 2: Phil, Karen, Man (p. 8-14)
Beginning with Phil: "Well, there you are."
Ending with Man: "You want to reimburse me for cab fare or what?"
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
Samuel French
Second Mov’t, Scene 1: Eurydice, Father, and a
chorus of 3 “stones” (p. 26-32)
Beginning with Stones: “We are a chorus of stones.”
Ending with Stones: “There are no rooms!”
In the Blood by Susan-Lori Parks
Dramatists
Scene 4: “With the Welfare” – Hester & Welfare (p. 32-25)
Beginning with Welfare: “Hands clean?”
Ending with Welfare: “Take the buck, K? And the cloth. And go.”
Machinal by Sophie Treadwell
Episode 4 “Maternal” - 1 m 1 w and “Doctors and Nurses”
Plays by American Women
Pages 201-206
Begins with the top of the scene with Nurse: “How are you feeling today?”
Ends with the end of the scene Woman’s: “”I’ll not submit.”
The
Shape of Things by Neil LaBute
Broadway Play Publishing
2W 1 M
Begin Page 59 Begins top of scene in coffee shop, Evelyn's: "... and you,
everything's good?
Ending page 67 Jenny: "I'm just gonna, yeah."
Note:
Student directors or their school are responsible for purchasing and/or
providing their own script copies for the above listed scenes.
Rounds:
Preliminary Round: A presentation of the scene in a closed round. Directing candidates are required to stay for the entire round and the following response session. Teachers/mentors who are the nominators-of-record for the student director are encouraged but not required to attend. Other than for the scene in which they are performing, actors are not allowed in the room. After the presentation the respondents will react to the work in front of the closed gathering of directors and teachers/mentors. Following the response session, the respondents will select up to six (6) directors to continue to the interview and final rounds.
Interview Round: Directors who are chosen for the final round will attend closed individual interviews with the respondents. At this time, the director’s book, written statements and approach will be discussed. No teachers/mentors or actors are allowed to participate in this phase of the event.
Final Round: Presentation of scene in a round open to the public. A final round of presentations will consist of up to six (6) selected scenes. The final round will occur at least two days following the preliminary round to allow the director and actors to work on the scene based on feedback from the preliminary round. Limited rehearsal space will be provided. Teachers/mentors may advise the student directors during these rehearsals. A response session will follow the final round, and will include the scene directors, and may include teacher/mentors, actors and audience.
Analysis:
Analysis will consist of a prepared director’s book for the scene.
The director’s book will be handed to the Directing Coordinator for the region
prior to the preliminary round and will be returned to the student director at
the final round. Please Note: Your
analysis is not due until you get to Reno, NV.
Please include the
following in your analysis of the scene:
·
Director’s statement: The director’s written statement provides the personal,
analytical and intuitive framework for the scene. It is a combination of script
analysis, research, creativity and personal connection to the text.
The statement should address the themes, images and specific lines of
text that guide the director’s work, including the context of the scene;
where/how the scene fits into the play.
·
Play
Overview
o
A
metaphor which expresses the essence of the play.
o
A simple,
one sentence telling of the story of the play.
o
Given
Circumstances: Address the following:
§
Geographical location, including climate
§
Date:
year, season, time of day
§
Economic
environment
§
Political
environment
§
Social
environment
§
Religious
environment
·
Scene
Analysis
o
Dramatic
Action: Include the following:
§
Provide a
concise analysis of the scene’s basic conflict.
§
The
previous action (to the scene)
§
Provide a
copy of your script divided into units of action and beats. Give a nominative
phrase as a title for each beat.
§
Detailed
breakdown of the action. Separate the action into beats and provide an active
present-tense verb for each character within each beat.
Example: A entraps and
B pleads.
§
Indicate
the key events for the scene (key discoveries and turning points, etc.)
o
Characters: provide the character’s objective for the scene, his/her obstacles
(both internal and external) and discuss what the character learns (or how they
change/evolve) in the scene.
o
Language:
discuss how choice of words, images, phrases, sentence structures and the sound
of the dialogue help to reveal character and provide meaning within the scene.
·
Additional materials: provide any additional research material, images, etc that
helped you find the core of the scene.
Production: The only furniture items permitted and provided will be two chairs, one table, and two acting cubes (approx. 24” X 24” X 24”). You may not have other furniture or set items. Any hand props or costumes required for the scene must be provided by the director. The regional host and coordinators will not be able to provide props or costumes for the scenes. Costumes may be used (but are not required). Please note that there is no technical support in the way of lighting and sound. You may provide your own sound with your own equipment - no speakers or amps are provided. Each scene will have an initial “lights up” cue at the top of the scene and a “lights down” cue at the end of the scene. The festival will provide a stage manager from the regional competition to call these two cues. This stage management student will call all shows. Directors should come prepared with a script for the regional stage manager. There will be a five minute break between scenes for set-up, with a ten minute break after every fourth scene.
Respondents: The respondents are skilled directors who have a strong track record
of responding to directing and are out-of-region colleagues or local
professionals who are not affiliated with regional institutions.
They will respond to the rounds of presentations, will participate in the
“interview round,” and will decide which student director will attend the events
in Washington DC. At least one member of the respondent team will be an SDC
member. Note: Students chosen to attend events at the national festival in
Washington DC are not chosen to work on original scripts.
Application: The following materials must be provided for consideration as a participant in the SDC student directing fellowship:
3) A LETTER OF APPLICATION from the student, which includes why the student is interested in participating in this program and the ways in which they believe it may contribute to their growth as a director. The letter should also affirm the student’s availability for the Region VII KCACTF Festival in Reno, NV, February 15-19, 2010, and for the National KCACTF Festival in Washington DC, April 14-17, 2010.
4) An SDC CONTACT INFORMATION COVER PAGE, to include the following information:
SDC Fellowship Program
Name of Directing Nominee
Institution Name
Phone Contact for Nominee
Current Email Contact for Nominee
Name of Faculty Mentor
Phone Contact for Mentor
Current Email Contact for Mentor
All materials must be submitted electronically to:
Rhett Luedtke
Directing Coordinator, KCACTF Region 7
503-554-2632
The
deadline is 5 PM, December 1, 2009.
Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Selection: Nominated directors will be selected based upon the following criteria: a) a complete application packet at the time of the deadline; b) the student’s ability to articulate why they wish to participate in the SDC scenes, and how they hope the program will benefit their growth as a director; and c) the quality of support for the nominee as described in the letter of nomination provided by the faculty member.
Students
and faculty mentors will be notified of selection via email on December 15, 2009.