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Acting Competition 2013

Registration will begin at 7:45am in the Lobby of Davis Hall Theater. Performance order will be determined on a first-come, first-serve basis. Performances begin at 8am. Teams arriving after 9:00am will be registered only at the discretion of the judges.  It is suggested that students arrive having already "warmed up." Limited time and space will be available for last minute preparation. Teams may pre-register by calling the Theatre Arts department at (405) 574-1310.

All teams will be assigned a “response session” with the judges. Teams must attend response sessions to qualify for awards. Response sessions will be scheduled every 45 minutes and will last 15-30 minutes. Coaches/teachers are strongly encouraged to attend the performances and feedback sessions.

The performance space will be the Davis Little Theater, a 300-seat proscenium stage in the North end of Davis Hall. The stage and playhouse are wheelchair accessible. USAO will provide a bare stage, lighting, and rehearsal cubes (18”, 24”, and 30”). All teams are invited to bring audience members to support their work. Disruptive audience members will be asked to leave.

Judges will recommend awards for the top scenes and awards for the best individual overall acting. Judges will provide feedback forms to all participants and their coaches.

  • Each participating school may enter ONLY TWO teams in the competition. We hope you will have a preliminary run-off at your school and send your best teams to compete.
  • Each team of two students will present a staged, memorized scene from a script.
  • The actors should introduce themselves and the title and author of the script from which the scene is cut.
  • Teams WILL NOT be permitted to introduce the characters or story of the scene.
  • The scene must be a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes in length. This is very important and scenes that do not meet time limits will be penalized in scoring.
  • Set up time and “slate” time is included in the time limit for the overall performance. Keep it simple!
  • There are no guidelines for casting or content of scenes, but actors are cautioned to review the categories being judged and note that there is no consideration of “spectacle.”
  • Scenes must be performed by two actors.
  • Both actors must be full-time students.
  • Actors may choose to bring basic props and/or may costume as they see fit. 
  • Actors may NOT use: lighting effects, music, recorded sound, scenes from movies or television, pyrotechnics, weapons (even stage weapons) or real food/drink of any kind.
  • Scripts/notes will not be permitted.
  • It is strongly recommended that actors perform published material.
  • Actors should make scene selections from dramatic literature (serious or comic play scripts) and are discouraged from the adaptation of newspaper articles, short stories, etc.
  • Participants assume responsibility for the procurement of permission to perform published material. (TEACH Act generally allows “fair use” of most plays for academic purposes.)
  • This is an acting competition. Scenes will be judged on technical skills (physical and vocal presentation), clarity of story, focus and discipline, adherence to time limit, and quality of interpretation of character(s) and relationship. Please coach your teams accordingly!