The American College Theatre Festival (formerly the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival) is a national theater program dedicated to the improvement of collegiate theater in the United States. Focused on the celebration of diverse and exciting theater, the organization involves students from more than 600 colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Started in the 1960s by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center's founding chairman, the American College Theatre Festival is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities in the United States that aims to help improve the quality of college theater in the United States. The organization has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment. Since its establishment in 1969, the American College Theatre Festival has reached more than 17.5 million theatergoing students and teachers nationwide.
While the culmination of the organization's year is the national festival, the majority of students involved in the program compete in one of eight regional competitions. The national festival is not intended to be a competition, but there are a number of scholarships and awards presented throughout the week, including the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships. Other competitions include playwriting, directing, set, costume, lighting and sound design, and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center critic's institute and dramaturgy awards, including the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award.
For 58 years the national festival was held in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center, but in 2025, after President Trump dismissed the performing arts center's board of directors, appointing new directors aligned with his agenda for it, [1] and moved to add his name to the center, the American College Theatre Festival announced that it has ended its partnership with the Kennedy Center, stating: "Due to ... decisions that do not align with our organization’s values, the National Committee ... has voted to suspend our affiliation with the Kennedy Center." [2]
The American College Theatre Festival has eight regionals throughout the United States divided as follows:
| Region | States |
|---|---|
| Region I | |
| Region II | New York is split between Regions 1 & 2. |
| Region III | |
| Region IV | |
| Region V | |
| Region VI | |
| Region VII Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine | |
| Region VIII | California is split between Regions 7 & 8. |
The productions below have been recognized for their outstanding achievement.
Outstanding Production of a Play
Outstanding Production of a Musical
Outstanding Production of a New Work
inspired by the novel by Cathy Day, Ball State University.
Outstanding Production of a Devised Work
Outstanding Production of a Modern Classic
The individuals below have been recognized for their direction of plays, musicals, classic and devised works, and new plays and musicals.
Outstanding Career Achievement in Directing
This production marked John David Lutz's 24th production showcased at Regional Festivals since 1971. Six of these productions were additionally showcased at the National Festival at the Kennedy Center. In 2007, by special invitation, his University of Evansville production of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors was one of the Kennedy Center's contributions to the "Shakespeare in Washington" celebration.
Outstanding Director of a Play
Outstanding Director of a Classic
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Lead Deviser/Director of a Devised Work
Outstanding Director of a New Work
inspired by the novel by Cathy Day, Ball State University.
| Year | Actress | Role - Production | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Jacquelyne Jones | as Diana in Next to Normal | Utah Valley University |
| 2014 | Rachel Staton | Ensemble in The Laramie Project | University of Mississippi |
| 2013 | Abby Vombrack | as Anna Fierling in Mother Courage | Illinois State University |
| 2013 | Elizabeth Golden | as Ursula in Vincent In Brixton | Utah Valley University |
| 2012 | Rene Michelle Aranda [4] | as Willy the Space Freak in The Unseen Hand [5] | Los Angeles City College, Theatre Academy |
| 2012 | Haley Jane Pierce | as Clara Ann Fowler in Flipside: The Patti Page Story | University of Central Oklahoma |
| Year | Actor | Role - Production | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | James Weschler | as Kafka in Kafka in Tel Aviv | Salem State University |
| 2013 | Nathan Burke | Ensemble in The Laramie Project | University of Mississippi |
| 2013 | Jonathan Amaro | as Platero in Platero y Yo | University of Puerto Rico |
| 2012 | John Stewart | as Frederick Douglass/Jim in Splittin' the Raft | Kennesaw State University |
| 2012 | Dylan Frederick | as Hallie in Master Harold and the Boys | University of Evansville |
Outstanding Choreography or Movement Direction
Outstanding Scenic Design
Outstanding Sound Design
Outstanding Costume Design
Outstanding Lighting Design
Outstanding Performance by a Guest Artist
Outstanding Achievement in Composition
Outstanding Performance and Production Ensembles
A list of the Irene Ryan Scholarship winners, the partners that assisted their wins, and the colleges they represented, from 1972 to 2013: