Adjudication

Two adjudicators for each Festival will be chosen by the NCTC staff. Adjudicators will provide a positive experience for all participants, recognize hard work, celebrate achievement and encourage further growth. After each performance, adjudicators will speak to the cast, crew and director at the front of the house (with other schools observing). Adjudicators are not permitted to see a participant’s entry prior to the Festival performance.

The adjudicators will provide brief verbal feedback to the group, addressing the following items:

1. In my opinion, the strongest acting/staging elements of this piece were…
2. If you continue to work on this piece, I would suggest you concentrate on…
3. When I think back and remember this show, what I’ll remember most is…

An awards ceremony will take place approximately 1 hour after the conclusion of the last play.

All awards are determined by the judges, unless otherwise noted.

Adjudication Rubric

Click here to see the adjudication rubric, which outlines how each production will be rated in a variety of categories.

Festival Awards Hub

Following the Festival, teachers will have access to the NCTC Awards Hub, an online resource for celebrating your Festival success. Teachers will be able to download and print their production/student award certificates, download a press release template, and find more tools for sharing Festival accomplishments. Adjudication forms and CEU certificates will be emailed to teachers after the Festival. Please allow several business days for these forms to be processed and distributed.

The following awards will be presented at each regional site:

Award Descriptions:

Distinguished Play

2 awards will be presented: 1 by the judges and 1 by the participants, if minimum voting requirements are met (see Cast Your Vote below). These 2 productions will be invited to participate in the NCTC State High School Play Festival. In the event that a Distinguished Play award recipient cannot attend the State Festival, the Honorable Mention show from their regional site will be invited to attend in their place.

Honorable Mention Distinguished Play

1 award will be presented. If the Distinguished Play award winner cannot attend the State Festival, this play will automatically advance.

Cast Your Vote

Each school has the opportunity to “Cast Your Vote” for one of the Distinguished Plays that will represent your site at the State Festival. Participation in this process is completely voluntary; schools are not required to participate. Your school must have at least 1 representative in the audience for each play, in order to participate. A representative may be a student, teacher, parent, or any person that can represent your vote. An NCTC representative will conduct a roll call prior to each performance, to verify attendance. After watching all performances, your group will deliberate and decide on one vote for your school (even if you bring 2 shows to the Festival, you are limited to 1 vote). The NCTC representative will give each teacher an index card with a line for your school name and a line for your vote, which you will return to the representative within 30 minutes after the last performance. Votes will remain confidential. No votes will be accepted until the conclusion of the Festival. At least 50% of the schools at your site must participate in “Cast Your Vote” for the award to be presented (otherwise the judges will choose both Distinguished Plays). You may not vote for your own show, but you will be able to vote for your favorite of all the others.

Festival Spirit Awards

We encourage your group to attend the entire Festival and watch every show! There will be a fun roll call before each show begins, and schools that are present for all performances will receive a Festival Spirit Award! By attending the full Festival, you are supporting other schools by being an enthusiastic audience; you are able to use the Festival as a tool to meet Essential Standards that focus on analysis; your students are able to learn from the adjudication after each performance; you will qualify for Cast Your Vote; and everyone will make new theatre friends!

Design and Production Awards - New Process for 2023

Adjudicators will present Design and Production Awards and welcome nominations from teachers in this category. Teachers are encouraged to nominate students who have excelled in any non-acting production work, including (but not limited to) stage management, public relations, design, student direction, and playwriting.

Each school may submit two nominations per play. Teachers may nominate individual students or small teams (of up to 3 students) who worked in the same production role. Nominations must be submitted via an online form by October 16. Paper forms will no longer be accepted on-site.

Design and Production Award Nomination Form