Kansas University junior Mackenzie Wiglesworth performs during an audition run-through for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship audition Wednesday at Murphy Hall. It will be a busy week for KU’s theater community as it host the 41st annual Kennedy Center American College Region 5 Festival.

Olathe graduate student Amy Cahill rehearses for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship.

Kansas University student Jeff Sears, Overland Park junior, rehearses for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship.

Nervous excitement is in the air as Kansas University prepares to host the 41st annual Kennedy Center American College Region 5 Festival.

Nearly 1,600 theater students, professors and professionals will gather starting Sunday for the performances at the Lied Center, Lawrence Arts Center and KU’s Murphy Hall.

The festival, which runs through Friday, will bring together people from nearly 100 colleges and universities in a seven-state region — Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota — to celebrate the art of the theater.

Some actors, actresses and plays will simply get feedback following their performances; others are hoping for a spot in the national Kennedy Center festival.

“During this festival there will be a national team that will go to each regional festival, and out of the entire country they will pick usually five or eight that will go to the Kennedy Center,” Pryor says.

That decision won’t be made until the end of February.

Though the event is closed to the public — the 1,600 participants will likely fill the audience spaces, making it impractical to allow outsiders — Lawrence will see an impact. The Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau says participants will spend about $1.1 million while they’re in town.

KU entries

Because KU is hosting the event, it could enter only associate entries, which do not qualify for national competition.

KU has had success with the festival in the past, with several works being selected for both the regional and national festivals. Paul Lim, an English professor who founded English Alternative Theatre in 1989, has directed several of those efforts.

“We have sent over 27 plays to various regional festivals of KCACTF, and we have sent four plays to the national level,” Lim says.

The benefit of the festival, he says, is it’s interested in promoting new plays by student playwrights.

Though KU will not be presenting a show at the festival this year, it will have several representatives in individual competitions. The KCACTF offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing and design.

Spencer Holdren, a senior theater major at KU, will be competing in the Irene Ryan acting competition. He qualified for the competition after his performance in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” last spring. This will be the first time he attends the festival.

“For the competition, what you have to do is find a partner and you choose a scene that’s 3 minutes, one that’s 2 minutes and a 1-minute monologue,” Holdren says. “We’ve been working really hard. I’m really excited about the material that I have chosen.”

As many as 350 people will be entering the competition.

“It’s exciting and nerve-wracking to prepare to perform in front of professors and theater professionals,” he says. “Plus there are many, many people competing.”

Other activities

When not competing, students will participate in workshops and other activities.

In addition to the various competitions, Pryor says plenty of activities are in store for the festival’s participants.

“We have themed parties for the students every night,” Pryor says. “There’s lots and lots of activities from about 8 o’clock in the morning until 2 o’clock in the morning. It’s jam-packed.”

In addition, Jim Peterson, the festival manager and technical director for KU theater and film, will receive a Kennedy Center Medallion, an award presented to teachers and artists who have made significant contributions and shown a strong commitment to the values and goals of KCACTF and to excellence in educational theater.

Pryor says Peterson will join a group of faculty at KU that have received the award in the past.

“It kind of speaks to how involved our department is in KCACTF, and it speaks well to our program,” she says.

— Intern Ashley Fischer can be reached at 832-7217.