MACT Logo. Upper portion is comedy/drama masks with comedy mask in yellow and drama mask in blue. Lower portion has the acronym "MACT" and below it the description MN Association of Community Theatres.MACT

MACT

Minnesota Association of Community Theatres

We are Minnesota’s Community Theatres

Who (What) is MACT?

MACT Logo. Upper portion is comedy/drama masks with comedy mask in yellow and drama mask in blue. Lower portion has the acronym "MACT" and below it the description MN Association of Community Theatres.

MACT is the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres.

MACT is a statewide, volunteer run organization which holds meetings, workshops, festivals and other events throughout the state of Minnesota. It has been around since 1973. (We’re older than many of you!) Its mission is:

  • to promote standards of excellence in theatrical endeavors in Minnesota communities;
  • to encourage, channel and facilitate the exchange of ideas among theatres to better foster their growth and improvement; and
  • to encourage the theatre arts through educational devices such as workshops, festivals, contests, conferences and other means.

We are governed by a Board of Directors and officers. The current board and officers consist of:

  • Darren Beecher – President – Minnetonka
  • Tom Nelson – Senior Vice-President – Cokato
  • Rachel Bohnsack – Senior Vice-President – Ramsey
  • Larry Pint – Treasurer, Webmaster, Newsletter Editor, AACT State Contact – New Prague
  • Jon Skaalen – Secretary – Stillwater
  • Bob Schwoch – Past President – Lynd
  • Gordy Handeland – At Large Director – Austin
  • Sylvia Newell – At Large Director – Pipestone
  • Donna Heaston – At Large Director – Elk River

As you can see, our board includes members from all over the state, thought we are currently light on representation from the northern part of the state. Directors are elected at our annual meeting, which is normally in June. The directors then elect the officers. If you are interested in learning more about being a director, contact our President at AdmAsstMACT@gmail.com or our webmaster at WebmasterMACT@gmail.com.

Our primary programming consists of a play festival each year. In even numbered years we produce Fast*Fest, a short festival of 20-minute plays. In odd years we produce MACT*Fest, a multi-day, adjudicated festival of 60-minute plays. These festivals typically include workshops. They move around the state with a different location for each festival. We occasionally do workshops outside of the festivals.

Fast*Fest is a short festival. It is usually held in August, on the weekend between the Fringe Festival and the State Fair. There is normally a Friday night open house/welcome social at the host theatre facility. This is a chance for the presenting theatre companies to view the stage and facility before performing. It’s also a time for socializing and networking. Time to make some new friends and catch up with old friends. On Saturday there may be workshops or performances in the morning, depending on the number of shows entered in the festival. Saturday afternoon and evening are more performances. The festival is capped off with an afterglow social after the final show on Saturday night. Our last Fast*Fest, August of 2024 at County Seat Theatre in Cloquet, had 15 presenting theatres.

MACT*Fest is our festival that is part of the AACTFest festival cycle. This is a multi-day festival of adjudicated shows. It is held in February or early March of odd numbered years. Rehearsals can start as early as Wednesday, but Thursday is more common. Performances are normally Friday afternoon and evening and Saturday afternoon and evening. There are also workshops on Friday and Saturday mornings. The festival culminates in the awards program on Sunday morning. Each shows has up to 10 minuted to setup, 60 minutes to perform and 10 minuted to strike. Their sets must fit in a 10 foot by 10 foot box. After each performance a group of adjudicators will present their thoughts on the show. Mact*Fest 2025, held in March at the Depot Theatre in Duluth, had 9 theatres presenting shows. The festival is limited to 12 shows. Two shows from the festival advance to the Region V AACTFest, usually in early April. (Region V consists of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.) At least one show from the Region V festival advances to the national AACTFest, which this year will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, in June. This year Region V is able to send 2 shows to AACTFest.

In addition to our festivals and workshops, we have a website (mn-act.net) and e-newsletter. Every week our webmaster visits every member theatres’ website or Facebook page looking for new or updated auditions and performance information. He then posts them to our website. There are typically between 600 and 700 events listed in our calendar. On Sunday nights our newsletter goes out to a subscriber list of about 500. The newsletter includes news and auditions and performances for the upcoming two weeks.

More information about MACT and what we do is available on our website mn-act.net or MACT.net or contact our President at AdmAsstMACT@gmail.com or our webmaster at WebmasterMACT@gmail.com.