(Photo: The Shape of Things by Phoenix College)

(PHOENIX, Ariz., Jan. 18, 2004) - Theater departments from Phoenix College and Glendale Community College will co-host the Kennedy Center American College Region VIII (AZ, CA, Utah, Hawaii and Nevada) Theater Festival (KCACTF) February 7-12 on the Phoenix College and Glendale Community College campus. The event, which is sponsored by the Maricopa Community Colleges and the Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction (MCLI), is expected to bring in more than 1,200 participants.

With an entrance fee of only $60, participants obtain entrance into all of the productions and workshops. Workshops will focus on acting, set and scene design, lighting and costumes and theater methodology. The festival is open to the public and there are no age restrictions.

Selected shows for the festival include:

--The Lion in Winter - Vanguard University of Southern California
--The Winter's Tale - California State University, Fullerton
--The Laramie Project - Utah State University
--A Midsummer Night's Dream - Eastern Arizona College
--The Miser - Weber State University
--Jekyll and Hyde (The Musical) - Dixie State College
--White - California State University, Los Angeles
--Stuck in Traffic - California State University, Los Angeles
--Train to Oroboros - California State University, Fullerton

Special Venue Shows include:

--¡Bocón! - California State University, San Bernardino
--The Shape of Things - Phoenix College

KCACTF is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide. The festival, which has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States, celebrates excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing and design. KCACTF, ultimately honors the creative process, allows students to review one another's work, as well as share experiences and insights within the community of theater artists.

Additionally, the program 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 by KCACTF respondents.

For more information, please visit http://arts.maricopa.edu/kcactf/index.php?sect=0 or call the Phoenix College Theatre Department at (602) 285-7303.

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