Palmetto Dramatic Association
& South Carolina Thespians
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2027 PDA One-Act Festival
Dorman High School in Roebuck
Schools must register by the December deadline in order to participate in the FESTIVAL. Slots for the One Act festival could be filled within 24 hours of the opening of School Registration (in September). Have a PO ready to upload or credit card ready for payment when you register your school.
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FEES Due:
$50- School Registration
$50- One-Act Registration for
PDA One Act Festival.
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School Registration will be open from
Thursday, September 24 until December 4th.
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Payment (or Purchase Order) must be received in order to reserve a Play Title or a Slot for the PDA One Act festival. No duplicate entries are allowed. Any One Act registration submitted after all 28 slots are filled will be placed on a Waiting list (usually first of November).
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DELEGATE REGISTRATION (Participants must be individually registered) will occur after School Registration closes and be due with payment by mid-January.
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One-Act Main Stage Performances
One-Act Stage Performances are presented through out the weekend on the Main Stage from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.
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PLAY RATINGS: Superior with Distinction, Superior, Excellent, and Honorable Mention
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ACTING AWARDS: Superior and Excellent
Non-Acting AWARDS: Outstanding Contribution
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Please remember, PDA is a Festival, NOT a competition. Schools are NOT rated against each other. Adjudicators are professionals, college professors, and theatre educators. An attempt is made to provide a variety of judges from year to year. Suggestions are welcome. Festival judges utilize a "rating sheet" created and revised by the PDA Board of Directors for the one-act plays.
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Play Guidelines
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No plays that have been performed at the festival within the past two years may be presented. Ineligible plays are listed to the right.
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No duplicate entries are allowed. The second school to submit a play title will be asked to make another selection or to withdraw with a refund for the one-act fee only. Schools are highly encouraged to submit the play title with the School Registration Form (available September 25).
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40 minute time limit, including set-up and strike.
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One professional play entry (musical or non-musical) per school. A school may perform an original script but will be adjudicated as if it is a professional published script.
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Focus should be on acting and directing; keep the technical elements SIMPLE.
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NOTE: ALL set pieces must fit in a 8ft X 8ft storage space​​​​​​​​​
Host Site information from Dorman will be posted by November 2026
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The 2026 Host Site stage dimensions, light and sound equipment, and instructions are available through the following links:​​​​
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​​​​​​To have a better understanding of the flow of the One Act festival, please read below: ​​​​
​​​​​​​The PDA Original One Acts as well as Thespys, and workshops will be presented in the Edwards Building.​
Titles for the One Act festival can be found in this document:
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This form will be updated as School Registrations are submitted. Play Summaries will be added with the One- Act Schedule at the end of January.
Ineligible Plays for the 2027 Festival
There is a TWO YEAR hold on scripts that can be performed at the PDA One-Act festival.
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Presented at the 2026 Festival
A Night Under The Stars by Tracy Wells
AESOP'S (Oh So Slightly) Updated Fables by Kim Esop-Wylie
Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children by Eric Bentley
Cheaters by Don Zolidis
Cheating Death by Kamron Klitgaard
Day Six by Ed Monk
Ernest and the Pale Moon by Oliver Lansley
Everyone Gets Eaten by Sharks by Marshall Pailet
In the Forests of the Night by Del Martin
Kaleidoscope by Ray Bradbury
Kodachrome by Adam Szymkowicz
Little Women by Marisha Chamberlain
My Brother's Gift by Claudia Haas
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
Soundscapes by Claudia Haas and Sarah Kraning
Stop/Kiss by Diana Son
The AI Play by Don Zolidis
The Book of Everything by Richard Tulloch
The Collective by Brent Holland
The Coloring Book (Competition Version) by Bradley Walton
The Empty Chair by Tim Kelly
The Lottery by Brainerd Duffield
The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard
The Snow by Finegan Kruckemeyer
The Staggering Heartbreak of Jasmine Merriweather by Don Zolidis
The Story of Susanna by Victoria Nalani Knebuhi
Why Do We Laugh? by Stephen Gregg
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Presented at the 2025 Festival​​​​
10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse by Don Zolidis
Anger Management by Robert Scott
Badger by Don Zolidis
Brian the Comet by Emily Hageman
Bullies Anonymous by E. M. Bell
Country Gothic by Tim Kelly
Digging Up Dessa by Laura Schellhardt
dirt by Mandy Conner
Importance of Being Earnest (in 30 Minutes) by Jason PIzzarello
It's Not You, Its Me by Don Zolidis
Me, My Monsters, and I by Grey Pratt
No Room for a Picture on the Blank Wall by David Remschel
Nobody Sleeps by Guernsey Le Pelley
Nora's Lost by Alan Haehnel
Pellets, Cherries, and Lies: The Pac-Man Story by Erik Przytulski
Queens by Kristen Doherty
Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World by Peter Parnell
She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
Small Actors by Stephen Gregg
Suddenly Shakespeare by Kim Selody
Tartuffe by Moliere, adaptation by N. Burlson
Thaddeus and 'Tila (A Frog and Crane Tale) by José Cruz González
That's Showbiz by Luke Whitehouse
The Audition by Don Zolidis
The Coming Magic by Alan Haehnel
The Girls in the Boat by Alice Austen
The Insanity of Mary Girard by Lanie Robertson
The Little Prince by Rick Cummins and John Scoular
The Price by Don Zolidis
The Yellow Wallpaper by Kathryn Funkhouser
Us and Them by David Campton​​​​​​
​​​​To view the critique sheet that the Judges use at the PDA One Act Festival:
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Festival Updates will be sent directly to registered schools via email. Updates will occur more frequently after the New Year and be posted here as well.
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Thespian Chapter Select
​Any Thespian school that would like to perform their one-act at Nationals must indicate the desire to be screened during the PDA One-Act Festival for a slot in Select Showcase (formerly the Regional Play Marathon) at the International Thespian Festival. If more than one school wants to advance, a representative from EdTA will make the final selection.
1. Schools must register in January
2. There is a $20 fee to be considered for Chapter Select Showcase at our festival.
3. The Community Standards & Copyright Form must be submitted at registration in February.
ORIGINAL ONE ACTS:
The deadline for Original One Acts is Friday, Dec. 4, 2026.
The top three ORIGINAL scripts will be presented in READER'S THEATRE FORMAT during the festival. The performances WILL NOT be part of the Main Stage Productions. Thespys Playwriting entries must be submitted as well. For more information about the Original One-Acts, please click the button below:
To learn more about the Blair Beasley Performance and the Joe Timmons, III Technical Award for Seniors, go to the Senior Awards Page: