National theater festival underway in Tacoma

Photo courtesy AACTFest

THE HOME TEAM. The Driftwood Players from Edmonds were chosen from more than 65 top theater companies in the country to represent Region IX, which includes Washington State, at AACTFest ’09. The troupe will present “Minnesota Moon” at Pantages Theater, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.

For the first time in 25 years a national community theater event is happening on the West Coast, and it is being held right here in Tacoma. The American Association of Community Theater’s national biennial festival, AACTFest ’09, began this week and runs through June 27 at numerous venues around town including Pantages Theater, Union Station, University of Puget Sound, Rialto Theater, Tacoma School of the Arts, Freighthouse Square and Traver Gallery. In fact, according to organizers the last time Tacoma hosted a national theater event of this scope was in 1926, so get your tickets now for this rare opportunity.

Twelve community theater companies from across the United States, including one representing military bases abroad, will perform in the Pantages Theater for AACTFest ’09, bringing more than 600 theater enthusiasts, advocates and performers to town. The core events of the festival are the performances by these 12 companies representing the 10 regions in AACT.

While no theater companies in Tacoma will be performing in the festival, Washington (Region IX) is being represented by the Driftwood Players out of Edmonds, presenting “Minnesota Moon” by John Olive on June 26 at 7:30 p.m. Set in 1968, “Minnesota Moon” focuses on two high school buddies, Alan and Larry, who sit in a moonlit yard of an abandoned farmhouse in southern Minnesota, drinking beer, laughing, sharing stories and saying good-bye: Alan leaves the next day for college, and Vietnam looms in their futures.

Many of these 12 companies started the process by participating in local festivals, advancing to state festivals, and then finally to regional festivals where the dozen were chosen from among more than 65 theater companies. These “best of the best” winners are in Tacoma with AACTFest ’09 to celebrate the power of live theater in our communities.

Among the 12 companies, “Longest Traveled” honors would surely go to SHAPE Entertainment representing Region X, which includes American military bases abroad. SHAPE stands for “Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe” located in a small town of the same name near Mons, Belgium. The company’s production of “Hold Me” was the first to be chosen to advance to AACTFest ’09 last autumn. Since then, the company has spent several months battling the economy and military program cut-backs in order to be able to bring their production over the “pond” and across a continent to perform in Tacoma. Their perseverance paid off, and this first chosen company will be presenting their production in the final performance at AACTFest ’09 on June 27.

At other venues around town, AACTFest ’09 will feature forums and social events for thespians and theater fans alike, and numerous workshops will be held to address administrative, technical and artistic aspects of theater work. Organizers encourage everyone attending the festival to be sociable and explore Tacoma’s museums, art galleries, shops and coffee houses. AACTFest ’09 is hosted by Tacoma Musical Playhouse and Washington State Community Theatre Association in cooperation with AACT and Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets for individual performance sessions and festival passes are available through the Broadway Center Box Office at South 9th Street and Broadway. Session tickets are $7, and a festival pass is $32 and gets you into all performance sessions. They are as follows:

• June 25 at 1:30 p.m.
  • Region VII: Colorado: Main Street Players, Littleton, “Eleemosynary”
  • Region Va: South Dakota: Aberdeen Community Theatre, Aberdeen, “How to Talk Minnesotan: The Musical”
• June 26 at 1:30 p.m.
  • Region IVb: Florida: Theatre A La Carte, Tallahassee, “Nine”
  • Region IVa: Mississippi: Starkville Community Theatre, Starkville, “Catfish Moon”
• June 26 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Region IX: Washington: Driftwood Players, Edmonds, “Minnesota Moon”
  • Region III: Indiana: South Bend Civic Theatre, South Bend, “Intimate Apparel”
• June 27 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Region VI: Oklahoma: Poteet Theatre – Arts @ St. Luke’s, Oklahoma City, “John and Jen”
  • Region X: AE: SHAPE Performing Arts Centre, Belgium, “Hold Me”

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