Competition Category Overview
Presenting a One-Act Play at Lenaea is a chance for students to collaborate as a full company, tell a complete story on a professional stage, and grow through thoughtful feedback from experienced theatre artists. It’s an exciting opportunity to stretch creative vision, work as an ensemble, and bring a shared artistic idea to life.
Backstage spaces: Dressing rooms are shared, all-gender spaces with single-stall restrooms available for privacy. Please keep belongings secure; Lenaea and the venue cannot be responsible for items left behind.
Load in/Out: You’ll have 15 minutes to load in and 15 minutes to load out. If your production includes stage combat, the fight call must take place during load-in. The house will open to the audience five minutes before your performance begins.
Performance timing: Your One-Act may run up to 45 minutes, with a five-minute grace period. At 50:00, lights will return to full, sound will stop, and applause will begin. Exceeding 50 minutes results in a penalty. Timing begins the moment the house lights go down.
After the curtain call: Following your performance, your cast and crew will meet privately with respondents for feedback and discussion. These sessions include only the program director, the student company, and approved chaperones, ensuring a focused, educational experience.
Student-Directed One-Acts: If your production is student directed, the director will be evaluated on a dedicated rubric and will receive personalized feedback during the post-show response session.
Technical Elements:
Stage Selection: Three venues are available for One-Act Plays. You will be asked for a preferred venue on your One-Act Play category form, however we cannot guarantee you will be scheduled in your preferred venue. Venues will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis when all forms and fees are received. We also consider cast size, school attendance size, and past festival experiences when making stage assignments.
Lighting: Warm and cool washes, front/top/side systems, and two specials are available in each space. Stage One and Stage Two offer a cyclorama (not available in the Black Box). Please share your needs on the Technical Questionnaire.
Sound: Basic system provided. Bring your own playback device (⅛" stereo connection). One handheld mic is available.
Projections: Projectors are available in Stage One and Stage Two for front projection. Bring your own computer; VGA cable is provided (confirm compatibility when completing the Tech Questionnaire).
Scenery & Props: Stock set pieces are available; you may also bring your own. Clearly label everything (school, director, on-site contact). Remove all items after your performance unless you’ve arranged scene-shop storage. Please do not discard items in venue dumpsters. Scenery can be delivered to the scene shop the morning of your performance, and must be removed from the scene shop by the end of the day of your performance.
Load-In Coordination: On arrival, check in with Lenaea’s Technical Director, Cameron Hoyt (cameron@lenaea.org), to finalize your plan.
Prop Weapons & Prohibited Items
Prop weapons are only permitted in One-Acts with strict adherence to Lenaea’s Prop Weapons Storage & Handling Policy. Real or functional weapons are never allowed, including BB guns, knives, or any object that can cause harm to another party. All prop weapons must be surrendered to festival technical staff upon arrival at the festival for proper storage as follows:
Immediately after check-in, surrender any prop weapons to festival technical staff in the Scene Shop. Your prop weapons will be catalogued and stored properly until your load-in time.
Your One-Act Play host will confirm the list of prop weapons surrendered prior to your performance. Festival staff will deliver your prop weapons to your stage at the time of your load-in.
Upon completion of your One-Act Play, return your prop weapons to your stage manager, who will deliver them back to festival staff for proper storage until you remove your materials from the building.
If any prop weapons are used in a performance that have not been properly checked in and catalogued, the performance will automatically be disqualified from award consideration.
Consult the Registration Guide for all other prohibited items.
