- Resume (OPTIONAL) that focuses on your experience and training as a director. (PDF)
- Statement of Interest that addresses your interest in the SDC Directing Initiative and what you hope to achieve and learn through involvement in the process. (PDF)
- Director’s Material (Director’s Book)– see below for details. (PDF)
There are three elements to your Director’s Materials: The Director’s Statement, Play Analysis, and Spectacle/Design.
- Director’s Statement
- This statement provides what could be described as “the world of the play,” This is where the director’s vision and concept for the scene and the play as a whole can be explored. This statement may contain the personal, analytical, and intuitive framework for the scene. It is a combination of script analysis, research, creativity, and personal connection to the text. The statement should address the themes, images, and specific lines of text that guide the director’s work. What about the play speaks to you and why are you the artist to do this play? What world are you looking to bring onto the stage and why is this the scene to best explore the ideas and themes you are looking to explore.
Simply put, “Why this play? Why now? This does not have to be long – maybe a page or two – but it should be clear that these are your ideas of how to stage this play and this scene.
- Play Analysis
- Identification: List title of play and name of author, and feel free to include any relevant research or dramaturgical work that informed your process.
- Given Circumstances: Briefly describe any significant previous action that occurs before the scene begins. What are the facts of the play that serve as the foundation of the scene, aka, the Given Circumstances?
- Major event(s) of the scene: Describe or list the events or the actions that take place within the scene you are presenting. This is not notation of your blocking, but rather a list of actions that you have observed and recorded from the text you are working on. (example: Edna wants Joe to join the striking cab drivers but Joe is afraid).
- Character Breakdown: List the characters and provide a character description for each character in the scene. This would be something that we might see in a casting notice of the character but with more intricate details about them
- Spectacle / Design:
- This is for you to use all your creativity to reflect the heart and soul of the piece and to further support and reflect your deep analysis of the whole play. List a series of imagistic words that capture your aesthetic sense of the scene’s look and “feel” of the play. These words might include colors, textures, ornamentation, relevant metaphoric images, light, and shadow, composition, degree of detail, etc. You could also include images, song lyrics, or anything which will help you express your connection with the play. Imagine this section as a mood/inspiration board for the “world of the play.” This is not an actual design, but the world and feeling you could convey to a design team.
Submissions must include the three items above and are due no later than 11:59 PM on January 21st, 2025.
Please note that all written material should be submitted as a PDF, and that it will be shared with a limited number of people registered with the KCACTF Region 1 festival: your fellow SDC directing candidates and the SDC respondents.
SDC Directing Initiative Scene Selections 2026
All entrants for the 2026 and 2027 Regional Festivals will prepare one from the list of scenes below, selected by the SDC fellowship alumni.
Arbor Falls by Caridad Svich (New Play Exchange)
Recommended by Sanhawich Meateanuwat, 2022 Region 3 SDC Fellow
Blood at the Root by Dominique Morisseau (Concord Theatricals)
“This play tackles the complexity of identity, accountability, and justice. The beauty of this play lies not only in its rhythmic language, but in the faults of each of these characters. The challenges posed in this scene not only changed how I felt about the play, but how I interact with Southern culture.” – Tiara Staples, 2024 Region 4 SDC Fellow
Born with Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams (New Play Exchange) (Option 2)
“Born with Teeth provides an imaginative glance into the tumultuous relationship of William Shakespeare with Christopher (Kit) Marlowe, whom Adams writes alternately as his friend/rival/lover/enemy. In this two-hander, the men are cowriting a play, but on a deeper level much more is occurring. This play provides potential challenges in the dialect and language, as well as in the relationship between the two characters.” – Kate Pemberton, 2025 Region 7 SDC Fellow
Electricidad by Luis Alfaro (Dramatists Play Service)
“This scene centers around family confrontation with emotions running high as characters are wrestling with loyalty, betrayal and love. Electricidad is obsessed with vengeance and family honor while Clemencia challenges her stance. The power shifts between Electricidad and Clemencia will allow future fellows to visualize power through movement, levels and spatial relationships.” – Jaden Fabio, 2025 Region 1 SDC Fellow
Everything Rises by Sage Mitchell (Contact Kelsey Mesa at KRMesa@kennedy-center.org for a copy of this script.)
Recommended by Kelly Quinnett, KCACTF National Co-Vice Chair and University of Idaho Professor
Lungs by Duncan Macmillan (Dramatists Play Service) (Option 2)
“Lungs is a tremendously challenging piece for a director, thanks to its combination of “dizzyingly dexterous” writing and absolute lack of stage direction. A note at the beginning specifies that the play is to take place on a bare stage, void of sets, props, furniture, or miming. The only hints of direction in the script are commas that represent a pause of some kind, “determined by context.” This provides opportunity for careful analysis to develop the relationship between the characters.” – Kate Pemberton, 2025 Region 7 SDC Fellow
Machinal by Sophie Treadwell (Nick Hern Books)
“This scene and this play as a whole is an amazing challenge for a young director due it’s subject matter and how Treadwell has crafted this mechanical and cold world. The speech at the end alone is a monster for any actor or director willing to take this on. The scene also poses a challenging question about motherhood and the availability of choice in taking on that role.” – Jordan Mitchell, 2022 and 2023 Region 1 SDC Fellow
Mercury by Steve Yockey (New Play Exchange) (Option 2)
Recommended by Kelly Quinnett, KCACTF National Co-Vice Chair and University of Idaho Professor
Miss Julie by A. Strindberg (Carlson Translation via Concord Theatricals)
“This classic play is difficult to stage because of its fast-paced dialogue and intense tone switches. Miss Julie is a commentary on class, gender, and psychological power struggles. In the selected scene, Miss Julie delivers two monologues that showcase an incredible range and depth for the actor and director to work with. Strindberg’s naturalist views, coupled with desire and despair, inevitably make you feel like a caged bird longing to be free.” – Elle Fraser-Row, 2024 Region 5 SDC Fellow
The Language Archive by Julia Cho (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Sanhawich Meateanuwat, 2022 Region 3 SDC Fellow
The Night Witches by Rachel Bublitz (New Play Exchange & Dramatic Publishing)
“Based on the true story of the all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment, this play blends song, movement, and physicality to portray the harsh realities these women faced. It explores sisterhood, purpose, fear, grief, and the small moments of humanity that emerge in wartime. The Chosen scene has devastating news for the characters, a Poignant monologue showing the universal truths of war and a hauntingly beautiful song.” – Elle Fraser-Row, 2024 Region 5 SDC Fellow
When I Come to Die by Nathan Louis Jackson (Dramatists Play Service)
“A gorgeous play written by a KCACTF playwrighting alum, this piece challenges directors to observe the spectrum of Capital Punishment through ideology, race, and the uncertainty of what’s to come next. This scene displays a man’s last chance of human connection and interaction before his life is over. With little to no stage directions throughout the men’s interaction, directors must focus on Jackson’s dialogue to guide them through staging the scene.” – Emma Davis, 2025 Region 6 SDC Fellow
Feel free to direct any questions to:
Sarah Ploskina, Chair of Region 1 SDC Directing Initiative