The South Orange County RoleAbout

Participants ó Student Volunteers ó Judges ó Student Judges ó Lunch

Category Limits ó Preliminary Rounds ó Final Round ó Awards Ceremony

Props Furniture Costumes ó Foley Props ó CD/Tape Player

Weapons ó Memorization ó The Slate ó Language & Content

Participants	Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors attending the participating school may compete at this festival. Each participating student will be required to pay a $15 registration fee. Each school can register a maximum of 35 students. We will cap the attendance at the festival to 400 participants total. As there are 3 sessions in the morning, we suggest that participants sign up for no more than 3 categories. We will, however, leave this up to the discretion of the teacher. Freshmen are encouraged to come as observers, however, we ask that you do not bring them to compete.  The competition portion is open to 10-12 grades only.
Student Volunteers	Our student volunteers are the students from our local junior high school.  Your students should keep this in mind when picking material for competition.  We do not want anything in the room that would not be appropriate for a 12 year old to hear.
Judges	We will make every effort to find judges that have strong theatre backgrounds. A $50 stipend + meals and snacks will be paid to all judges for the day.
Student Judges	Each school must register TWO students to serve as judges for the festival. Student judges will not be able to compete, however, they will be judging preliminary and finals rounds. They should be prepared to be a judge for the entire day (5 sessions). Their input will carry the same weight as the other judges in the room in which they are judging. Student judges will not be paid, however, they will be served breakfast and lunch. Student judges will not be required to pay the $15 registration fee. We hope that this will give students an opportunity to see the judging process from the "other side of the table." Please make sure that the students you recommend are capable of keeping a secret. Since they will have knowledge of those moving on to finals and/or winning the contest, they will need to be able to keep that secret during the course of the festival. Once the festival is over, they are welcome to discuss anything they want to about the process. In fact, we encourage them to do so.
Lunch	Lunch will not be provided for participants. There is a 40 minute break during which all can eat lunch on their own.  There are many places within walking distance of the campus that students may go to buy lunch if they wish.
Category Limits	Scene Categories (including Radio Plays) = 5 entries per school max Monologue Categories = 10 entries per school max Cold Reading = 3 entries per school max
Preliminary Rounds	There will be 3 sessions of Prelims.  Entrants will compete in one of these sessions.  The top 2 to 3 students from each session in each category (depending on the category and as decided upon by consensus of the judges in the room) will be passed on to the final round. Each participant or group will perform the monologue or scene only once in the morning round.
Final Round	Teachers can pick up the Finals List at the Festival Headquarters. Finals will start after lunch. The winners in the finals rounds will be decided upon via consensus of the judges in that room.
Awards Ceremony	The awards ceremony will start as soon as the finals are over.  1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards will be given in each category. Ties for awards will not be given.
Props Furniture Costumes	We want to concentrate on character development, not costumes and props. Costumes are not necessary. You will not be judged on whether or not you are wearing a costume unless it becomes a distraction. Props are allowed but should be used minimally. You will not be judged on whether or not you are using props. Please note that sometimes, props can be a distraction and could, potentially, take away from your performance. For furniture, we will guarantee 2 chairs in each room. No other furniture will be provided. Please do not block your scenes to include anything except 2 chairs. For Radio Plays, 4 music stands for scripts and one power strip will be available. For Monologue/Song Combo, a CD/Tape player will be provided in the room.
Foley Props	Effective use of "Foley" props will be necessary to create an effective scene in the Radio Play category. Sound machines and/or synthesizers are not allowed. All sound should come from an organic source. You will have one power strip to plug in props if necessary (i.e. power drills, a vacuum, or some other prop that needs electricity.) Please note that Radio Plays will be performed on a wooden stage floor, therefore, you will have that surface to utilize for your performance.
CD/Tape Player	A CD/Tape player will be provided in the room for the Monologue/Song Combo category. Please do NOT bring your own player. There will be no place to plug in your machine.
Weapons	Weapons will not be allowed. If you bring a weapon, you will be disqualified. Also, we will not provide weapons. If your scene calls for weapons, find another scene… really.
Memorization	All scenes and monologues should be fully memorized EXCEPT for the following categories: Cold Reading & Radio Plays For Cold Readings, we discourage students from trying to memorize their sides. The concentration should be on creating a character, not on memorizing lines. For Radio Plays, students should read from their scripts on music stands as would be done on a radio show.
The Slate	As we will not be writing down the list of participants on the chalkboards, all participants will be asked to slate before they begin. In your slate, please include: Your Student # [ex: 12-5] The title of the play/script from which you are performing The name of your character You will not be judged on your slate. Please do not make your slate an elaborate performance. It becomes a distraction that takes away from the impact of your performance.
Language & Content	All language and/or content is left to the discretion of the performer(s) and her/his/their teacher. HOWEVER, if you would be embarrassed to perform your piece in front of your grandmother or principal, then the piece is probably not appropriate for you to perform at the festival.  ALSO, students from the local junior high will be in the room as timers and runners.  The material you choose should be appropriate for them to witness/hear. Also note: if the judges feel that the material is inappropriate for someone of your age and/or maturity level, you will probably not be passed on to finals.

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