Design Competition
Showcase your scenic, lighting, properties, costume, or special designs in this hybrid competition, with virtual and on-site entries welcome during AACTFest 2025. Open to AACT members, with cash prizes for top designs.
2025 Design Competition
In conjunction with AACTFest 2025
Pre-Festival
National Festival
AACTFest Cycle
Hybrid Model Opens Door to Opportunity
The AACT 2025 Design Competition has gone hybrid, allowing entries to be displayed and adjudicated either virtually or on-site during AACTFest 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa, next June.
For those designers whose busy schedules or limited budgets preclude shipping design displays to Des Moines or travel to AACTFest 2025 next June, virtual entries are welcome. Preliminary plans call for a kiosk or similar showcase for attendee viewing.
Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to showcase your best design work and possibly take home a cash award.
Photo: Costume Designs by Katherine Wood for The King and I, produced at St George Musical Theatre, were part of the 2019 Design Competition at AACTFest 2019 in Gettysburg, PA.
Entry Categories
The five Design Competition categories include Scenic, Lighting, Properties, Costume, and Special Design. Entries must be the work of an AACT Individual Member or be a design used for a production staged by an AACT Organizational Member. Designs must be from productions staged between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2025.
Guidelines (PDF)
Guidelines for Virtual Entry | Guidelines for On-Site Entry
Design Competition Entry Fees
Onsite Display Entry Fee:
Free with AACT Registration. Additional Entries are $25 per entry.
Virtual Entry Fee: $50
The AACT 2025 National Design Competition showcases the best of community theatre in this country. It is an opportunity for your theatre and designers to shine. AACT-member theatres and their designers enter designs for projects. There will be five design categories: Scenic, Lighting, Properties, Costume, and Special Design. Cash prizes for top designs in each category.
Plan Now
It’s not too early to begin collecting sketches, photos, plans, and other materials that can be used in your entry.
Space allocation for in-person displays is limited, and entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Deadline for submitting the form will be May 19, 2025.
Awards
AACT will award a $300 prize to the design chosen as Outstanding Overall Design. Awards will be given at the discretion of the adjudicators. Awards will be presented to the combined pool of On-Site and Virtual entries. Competition adjudicators also have the option of awarding prizes of $100 for Outstanding Design in each of the five categories.
AACTFest 2025 Design Competition Adjudicator
The AACTFest 2025 Design Competition showcases the creativity, technical skill, and artistic vision of theatre designers from across the country. Evaluating this year’s submissions is an experienced adjudicator with a deep understanding of scenic, lighting, and technical design.
Chris Rich
Scenic Designer | Technical Director | Theatrical Fabricator
Chris Rich is a design and management partner in Heliotrope Productions and an accomplished theatrical fabricator and designer based in Eastern Iowa. With a career spanning scenic, lighting, and sound design, he has worked with Theatre Cedar Rapids since 2018 and previously served as Production Manager and Technical Director for Riverside Theatre in Iowa City. Chris also spent nearly two decades as an Associate Professor of Design Technology and Program Director at Troy University. His expertise in technical theatre and commitment to innovative design make him the perfect adjudicator for the AACTFest 2025 Design Competition.
Competitors can look forward to receiving valuable feedback and insights from Chris as he evaluates designs with an expert eye for creativity, execution, and impact on storytelling.