Theater competition comes north

A statewide theater competition is coming to the northern half of Idaho next weekend for the first time, and organizers say community members have a role to play, too.

“The bigger the audience, the more energy there is in that room, and it’s better for the actors,” said Brad Ooley, of Boise, chairperson of the Idaho Association of Community Theatre’s I-ACTFest.

The Lewiston Civic Theatre will play host to I-ACTFest from Feb. 21-22 at the old Lewiston High School, where three community theater companies will compete for the chance to move on to a regional competition.

The festival, first held in Boise in 2015, is organized by the Idaho affiliate of the American Association of Community Theatre, or I-ACT, a nonprofit organization Lewiston Civic Theatre Executive Director Nancy McIntosh became president of last year.

“It’s exciting that it’s in the north, because it will spread the love and create new opportunities for theaters up there,” I-ACT co-founder and Eagle Theatre Company President Deborah Hertzog said.

The Lewiston Civic Theatre is the only company from the north participating this time, “but Nancy will build momentum,” Hertzog said.

Lewiston will be joined by Eagle Theatre Company and Emmett Mystery Dinner Theater for the public performance portion of the competition on Feb. 22, following a day of tech rehearsals and meetings. Each group must adhere to a set of rules that includes a 60-minute time limit to perform and 10 minutes maximum for setup and teardown. The props and set for each production must fit inside a 10-by-10-foot space.

And there’s a rule for audience members both McIntosh and Ooley emphasized: Once a performance starts, no one can enter or leave the auditorium. The shows are just one act, so there’s no intermission and no opportunity to enter once a performance has begun.

Judges will critique each performance immediately afterward, and a winner will be chosen to represent Idaho at the American Association of Community Theatre Region IX competition next month in Boise; Region IX, Ooley explained, includes Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The regional winner will advance to AACT’s national competition in June in Des Moines, Iowa.

The competitions give actors, directors and other community theater volunteers a chance to network and learn from each other, and that’s part of why Hertzog and half a dozen other community theater volunteers founded I-ACT a decade ago, bringing Idaho into the American Association of Community Theatre fold.

“You feel part of a bigger movement or project,” she said. “You feel part of the community theater network of the country.”

The festival also is an opportunity for community members to take in shows from theater groups they might not otherwise get to see. Tickets are available from The Lewiston Civic Theatre for individual shows, $10, or the whole festival, $25.

“It’s going to be almost a full day, but I think it’ll be worth it,” Ooley said. “We’ve got some good stuff going.”

Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.

IF YOU GO

I-ACTFest state community theater competition

When: Feb. 22.

• Noon, Lewiston Civic Theatre, “Radium Girls.”
• 2 p.m. Eagle Theatre Company, Eagle, Idaho, “The Author’s Voice.”
• 4 p.m. Emmett Mystery Dinner Theater, Emmett, Idaho, “An Open and Shut Case.”

Where: Normal Hill Campus in the old Lewiston High School auditorium, 1114 Ninth Ave., Lewiston.

Cost: $10 for one show or $25 for all three at Lewiston Civic Theatre Box office, (208) 746-3401.