1. SDC PROGRAM QUESTIONNAIRE

   1. Complete the Questionnaire for SDC Program participation and upload your current resume.

2. DIRECTORIAL ESSAYS

1. 1. To us, your Directorial Practice should tell us why you are an artist in the first place, and why directing is the medium you’ve chosen to impact the world. It could possibly include your view of the world, your history, your influences, techniques you’ve employed in your work…and (hopefully, and most importantly) what distinguishes you from everyone else applying. Avoid cliches and really think…what is special about you? (400 WORDS MAX)

   2. Your Directorial Process, on the other hand, is HOW you direct, the actual process of preparation and execution you use when directing a play, musical, film, or other live performance. Some things that you might want to discuss here are how you read the text, how you take notes on it and prepare, how you approach research, how you execute the process of rehearsal, or production meetings, or casting, or previews, etc. Directorial Practice is who you are; Directorial Process is how you do it. Speak from the heart, and speak about yourself…we understand these are difficult questions (that’s why we ask them!), and we look forward to learning about you through what you choose to share with us. (400 WORDS MAX)

      1. OPTIONAL: Applicants may upload supplemental material exemplifying their directing practice, process, and/or experience. We will accept a maximum of 10 images with brief written contextualization.

3. DIRECTOR’S PITCH

Choose one of the scenes from the list of SDC nationally selected scenes.  Read the play the scene is from and provide a concept pitch for the scene you will prepare. (500 WORDS MAX)

• What play did you choose? 

• Why does this play need to be done RIGHT NOW?

• Why are you the artist to do this play, and what will you, specifically, bring to the production? 

• What impact do you hope your work will have on an audience? 

• What is your interpretation of this scene? Discuss what is happening both in the scene itself and how it relates to the rest of the play. Help us understand your approach to analyzing not just the meaning, characters, and action, but also the world of the play and what you hope to communicate.

4. RECOMMENDATION LETTER

Submit a Faculty/Nominator-of-Record Letter of Recommendation which speaks to the student’s directing accomplishments and potential. The letter should provide information about the student’s record as a student of directing, including coursework and practical directing experience, imagination and artistic vision, communication skills, and ability to collaborate with others. In addition, the letter should provide the faculty member’s assessment of how participation in this program may benefit the student. Please affirm the student director’s ability to attend the virtual festival.

All materials must be submitted by 02 DEC 2024 (11:59PM/EST) as ONE pdf document.

• Before the Conference: Student directors (1) choose a scene from this list (2) prepare their application materials (3) complete the program questionnaire. Register for the KCACTF Region 2 Conference January 14-18, 2025.
• Round 1: Selected student directors bring their prepared scenes to the festival. A panel of two or three respondents give feedback on the director’s choices and work. 
• Round 2: Student directors participate in an interview with the respondents, during which their directorial practice & process will be discussed. They go back into rehearsal with their cast in preparation for Round 3.
• Round 3: The scenes will be presented in this final round, which will occur at least two days following Round 1. A response session will follow the final round.

The invited SDC students will prepare a fully-staged, off-book presentation (no longer than 15 minutes, including setup and breakdown) of their chosen scene from the 2024/25 list. The student is responsible for realizing all aspects of the presentation. Please consult your school about its policies for bringing a scene to the Regional Conference (such as limitations to the number of students who may be supported, restrictions to the casting pool, or resources available).

All scenes will be presented in a closed session in a standard conference room under room lights, with no other tech provided. We strongly encourage you to think simply and creatively with limited technical resources; the focus should be on the work of the actor and director in clear storytelling rather than on design or spectacle. Directors would be responsible for running any technical elements they bring. THERE WILL BE NO STORAGE IN THE CONFERENCE VENUE.

Scenic: Six directors will have access to the following in the room:

8 café chairs, 2 tables, 2 2’ rehearsal cubes, 4 1’ rehearsal cubes

Directors do not need to use all these elements, but as you rehearse, be mindful of what will be available in the actual space.

Directors are responsible for any other scenic elements, which should be portable and easily removed from the space.

Props: Directors may bring simple hand props, as needed (no weapons).

Costumes: Directors and casts are responsible for their own costuming. Keep costuming simple, portable, and low maintenance (e.g., use personal clothing that suggest the characters or world of the play but do not require period authenticity or complicated care).

Sound: Directors may bring their own Bluetooth speakers and playback devices for sound, if they can be easily deployed and broken down in the allotted time.

Lights: Directors should plan to present under room light. Directors may incorporate small handheld practical lights, if appropriate, but setting up and focusing any larger lighting is not permitted. A full blackout may not be possible.

A pair of respondents who are professional directors/educators will view all scenes and meet with each director for 15 minutes to offer feedback and discussion of the work.

Directors of scenes advanced to the finals should plan to schedule time with their casts during festival to explore ideas arising from the conversation with the respondents. Those revised scenes will be presented during the finals, which will be open to the full festival.

At the closing ceremony, the Region 2 committee will announce the SDC Regional Finalist selected by the respondents who will advance to the national festival.

All entrants for the 2025 Regional Festivals will prepare one from the list of scenes below, selected by the SDC fellowship alumni.  

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell (Nick Hern Books)
“This scene and this play as a whole is an amazing challenge for a young director due it’s subject matter and how Treadwell has crafted this mechanical and cold world. The speech at the end alone is a monster for any actor or director willing to take this on. The scene also poses a challenging question about motherhood and the availability of choice in taking on that role.” – Jordan Mitchell, 2022 and 2023 Region 1 SDC Fellow

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield (Broadway Play Publishing)
“One of the most important aspects of this show is developing a united trio who can work off each other. This scene puts that chemistry to the test as these silly and larger than life characters have to earnestly contend with a betrayal of trust within their group. The director who works on this also has a chance to bring more of themselves to the humor of the scene, if they choose to change the show that Jess is obsessed with.” – Jordan Mitchell, 2022 and 2023 Region 1 SDC Fellow

Passage by Christopher Chen (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Abigail Torres, Region 7 2023 SDC Fellow

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly-Guirgis (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Abigail Torres, Region 7 2023 SDC Fellow

Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Dramatists Play Service)
“This is quite a challenging play, both in its staging and content. I particularly love it because it asks the director to constantly build tension in an ensemble scene that constantly twists and turns with fluid status and complex chunks of dialogue. In this play, it’s my interpretation that no character is fully in the right, nor fully in the wrong, but thats what makes it so interesting— it asks the audience to interrogate their own familial relationships and how complex layers of dueling truths can exist at the same time.” – Nabeel Jan, Region 2 2023 SDC Fellow

Doctor Voynich and Her Children by Leanna Keyes (Bloomsbury Publishing, The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays)
“This ‘prediction’ is set in America years after reproductive health care has been made illegal. Doctor Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the countryside in a converted ambulance dispensing harmless herbs by day and providing family planning services by night. Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using forbidden knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the ‘attempted murder of an unborn person.’ This play about mothers and daughters is poetic, sexy, vulgar, queer, and a little too real. Doctor Voynich and Her Children provides an excellent opportunity for young directors who are eager to tackle a bold and exposed script.” – Erin White, Region 7 2021 SDC Fellow

Arbor Falls by Caridad Svich (New Play Exchange)
Recommended by Sanhawich Meateanuwat, Region 3 2022 SDC Fellow

Rx Machina by Caity-Shea Violette (New Play Exchange)
“I love this play— the dialogue and character interactions in this piece are constantly layered— their true intentions are often hidden and others have to work to figure out what is really going on. I also especially enjoy the moments where characters snap out of their normal, or expected, paths, and portray what the other character sees. It is also quite appropriate to do now, as the effects of the ongoing opioid epidemic are being litigated in society (and courts) and blame must be assigned.” – Nabeel Jan, Region 2 2023 SDC Fellow

Big Love by Charles L. Mee (https://www.charlesmee.org/big-love.shtml)
Recommended by Amanda Baschnagel, Region 6 2023 SDC Fellow

The Language Archive by Julia Cho (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Sanhawich Meateanuwat, Region 3 2022 SDC Fellow

We also invite applications from students interested in directing as part of the 10-Minute Play Festival. Every year, the Region 2 NPP area chooses a limited number of new student-written plays to present. Selected student directors will be paired with student playwrights to work on a public reading of a new 10-minute play. The emphasis is on performance and supporting the playwright’s words, without props or other production elements. A stage direction reader will be provided.