The American College Theatre Festival is a 5-day long gathering of students and faculty from universities who are interested in theatre to share ideas and view one another's work. In addition to performances and competitions, there are a wide range of activities that, in the past, have included workshops and seminars on such topics as play writing, auditioning, voice, movement, stage combat, scenic painting, set design, and so on
There are a total of eight regional festivals sponsored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts which are held yearly throughout the country during January and February. We are in Region II along with universities from Maryland, Delaware, D.C., New Jersey, and New York.

Any student who attends all University Theatre or ACTF related meetings throughout the year, and who fulfills the requirements laid out in the ACTF Contract.

In years past the total costs were under $200, which included registration, transportation, and hotel. Some fees will be paid by U.T. for participants in Irene Ryan Competition or other technical competitions. Deposits are required for all students who want to attend and students must comply with all aspects of the ACTF contract or they will be excluded from the trip.

Two Irene Ryan Scholarship participants are chosen for each mainstage production by an ACTF respondent who adjudicates the show on one of the performance nights. To accept a nomination means that the participant will attend the Festival in January and will complete all the requirements put forth in the Irene Ryan Contract.

At the Festival, participants will be required to perform a monologue and a scene or song for a panel of judges (consisting of directors from other universities). Winners from that round compete in semi-finals in front of the entire Festival. Finals are held the last night of the Festival and $2500 Scholarships are granted to the two winning participants from each region. These two winners will then go to the Kennedy Center National Festival where they will perform in an evening of scenes in front of top professional actors, directors, producers, and casting agents.