Gallaudet theater production advances in quest for inclusion in Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

Gallaudet’s fall theater production, Noises Off, has moved another step toward a possible performance this spring at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Noises Off, a classical farce, was one of three plays nominated at a January 11-15 regional competition at Towson University to advance to the national level for a coveted spot at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF).

Each January and February, college and university theater productions from eight regions of the country are judged by a panel of judges selected by the Kennedy Center and the KCACTF national committee, and four to six are selected to be showcased in April at the Kennedy Center.

Willy Conley, a professor in the Theatre Arts Department, said the Noises Off cast will probably know within a month, after all of the other regions have had their festivals, if the play will be selected for the nationals. Conley said there were nine productions selected for the regional competition, covering Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, northwest New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, northern Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

“I was very pleased with the professionalism of our students at a festival that brings together the best theatre students from our region,” said Conley of Gallaudet’s performance at Towson. “We beat out some very strong productions from other universities.”