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2024 PDA One-Act Festival 
Dreher High School, Columbia

Schools must register by the December deadline in order to participate in the FESTIVAL.

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FEES Due:

$50- School Registration

$50- One-Act Registration for

Professional Plays

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School Registration link will be active from

September 25 until December 7, 2023.

Payment (or Purchase Order) must be received in order to reserve a Play Title.  No duplicate entries are allowed.

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One-Act Main Stage Performances

One-Act Stage Performances are presented through out the weekend on the Main Stage. 

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RATINGS: Superior, Excellent, and Honorable Mention

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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

  • No plays that have been performed at the festival within the past two years may be presented. Ineligible plays are listed to the right.

  • 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).

  • 40 minute time limit, including set-up and strike.

  • 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.

  • Focus should be on acting and directing; keep the technical elements SIMPLE.

  • NOTE: ALL set pieces must fit in a 8ft X 8ft storage space

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The Host Site stage dimensions and instructions:

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If there are any updates after September 25th, those will be posted here:

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Ineligible Plays for the 2024 Festival

There is a TWO YEAR hold on scripts that can be performed.

 

Presented at the 2023 Festival

A Look on the Inside by Ty Ricard

Tribunal by Alan Haehnel

Anatomy of Gray by Jim Leonard Jr.

For Tiger Lilies Out of Season by Andrea Green

Danse Macabre by L. Don Swartz

Why Do We Laugh by Stephen Gregg

The Dancers by Horton Foote

Supressed Desires by Susan Glaspell

Epic Fail by Bradley Hayward

Love at First Thought by Shawn Deal

The Day the internet Died by Ian McWethy and Jason Pizzarello

Speed Date by Janet Allard

My California by Lisa D'Amour

The 146 Point Flame by Matt Thompson

Mac Beth by Erica Schmidt

In the Garden of the Selfish Giant by Sandra Fenichel Asher

The Elephant's Graveyard by By George Brant

The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World by Jonathan Rand

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakeapeare

Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson

The Velveteen Rabbit by Elise Kauzlaric

The Spot by Steven Dietz

Treasure Island by Todd Espeland

Who Killed Broadway by Meredith T. Taylor

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, Laura Annawyn Shamas

Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka

The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (one-act) by Don Zolidis

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Presented at the 2022 Hybrid Festival

A Christmas Chaos by Michael Wehrli

A Game by Dennis E. Noble

Almost, Maine by John Cariani

Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco

Booby Trap by Ed Monk

Chairs by Scott Mullen

Crafting a Killer by Brent Holland

Far Away by Caryl Churchill

Gutenberg! The Musical! by Anthony King & Scott Brown

If Sherlock Holmes were a Woman by Tim Kelly

Jack in the Box by Scott Mullen

Malled: Yes, Virginia, There is a Virginia by Colleen Neuman

On the Verge by Eric Overmyer

Oz by Don Zolidis

So You Want To Be A Cheerleader by MG Davidison

Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling

That's Not How I Remember It by Don Zolidis

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged by

                                                      A. Long, D. Singer, and J. Winfield

The Lottery by Brainerd Duffield, Shirley Jackson

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Dwayne Hartford

The Role of Della by John Wooten

The Staggering Heartbreak of Jasmine Merriweather by Don Zolidis

Time Flies by David Ives

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 to be submitted is Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023.

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 Award for Seniors, go to the Senior Awards Page:

To view the critique sheet that the Judges use at the PDA One Act Festival, click  One-Act Rubric:

Titles to be reserved by schools for the 2024 Festival will be listed in this document:

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First Day to submit Titles: September 25

To nominate a teacher for outstanding work, open this form:

Host Site
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