MACT“What is?” you’re probably asking. I don’t mean Christmas and New years. At my age, those joyous days don’t have the impact they used to have. It’s MACT*Fest time!
I’ve gotten so I plan my vacations, and some would say even my life, around MACT Fest, the Region V festival and the grandest of the festivals, AACTFest. MACT Fest is the most fun of all of them because I get to see many of my thespian friends from all over the state at one time and in one location. Up to 12 wonderful shows, helpful workshops, enlightening adjudications and lots of time to talk shop with like-minded people. What’s there not to like?
This year’s festival will take place from Wednesday, March 5 (rehearsals), through Sunday, March 9. Our friends at County Seat Theater Company (Cloquet) will be hosting this festival at the Depot Theatre in Duluth. This is the first time we have held MACT*Fest in that area since 1981, when the Duluth Playhouse hosted the festival.
If you haven’t already registered your show, there is still time for your theatre to participate in MACT Fest 2025. As in past years, only 12 theatre companies will be selected to perform. Theatre registrations will be accepted from now through December 16. Shortly thereafter, at the MACT*Fest committee meeting, we will be drawing from the entered theatres to determine the performance order. As we draw the names, we will fill the performance slots starting with the last slot and working backwards. If we do not receive at least 12 entries by December 16, we will continue accepting entries (at a higher registration fee) until January 16. Those entries will fill any remaining slots in the order they are received until all 12 slots are full.
If we have a full slate of 12 presenting theatres, rehearsals will begin on Wednesday with additional rehearsals Thursday morning, afternoon and evening and Friday and Saturday mornings. The first performance session will be determined when the final performance order is set. They may start as early as Thursday evening, but will certainly include Friday afternoon and evening and Saturday afternoon and evening. There will be workshops on Friday and Saturday morning and plenty of time for socializing throughout. The festival will culminate in the awards brunch on Sunday morning where many awards will be presented, including two shows to be selected as “Best of Fest”. These two shows will have the opportunity to represent Minnesota at the Region V festival in Newton, Iowa in April. At least one show from that festival will be selected to represent the region at AACTFest 2025 in Des Moines, IA in June. Minnesota has traditionally done well at the region festival and has advance shows to the national festival in many cycles.
If your theatre is interested in participating, the registration packet is available on the MACT website (www.MACT.net) under “About Us” and then “Festivals” and “MACT Fest 2025”. The AACTFest handbook is also available there for the full rules that will be followed. Be sure to read the 2025 AACT Handbook to make sure you are familiar with the rules. This is a fun time and a great opportunity to showcase the great talent in your community theatre. And whether your theatre enters or not, MACT*Fest is a great opportunity to see many great shows in only a few days and to share experiences with theatre lovers from all over the state.
Do you have a workshop that you’d like to present on some area of theatre? Workshops are just over an hour long (about 60 – 70 minutes) and can cover any aspect of theatre, such as: acting, directing, set design and/or construction, lighting, sound, costuming, box office, advertising, websites, using social media, theatre on the cheap, or anything else theatre related is fair game. We’re always looking for new workshops for the festival. Contact either of the co-chairs, Joel Soukkala (CountySeatGM@aol.com) or Larry Pint (WebmasterMACT@gmail.com) with your ideas (or questions or comments).
Head on over to www.MACT.net for more information on participating in MACT Fest 2025.