Registration for the 2024 Maryland Thespian Festival is now OPEN!!

Important Updates for 2024

• We have switched over the www.MarylandThespians.org website for 2024, but there are bound to be things that we missed. Please let us know if you catch anything that needs to be updated and we will continue to post new info there!

• Middle School and High School registration is separate this year. If you are responsible for both, you will need two different registration accounts with two different emails. (If your current account is the wrong type, it will need to be changed on the back-end; just let us know and we can help.)

• Thank You to all the Troupe Directors who took the time to respond to our survey. It was very helpful with some decision making for Festival. We will try to send out your Maryland Thespians SWAG within the next month or so. :-)

Thespys

• Thespys will be done primarily by digital submission this year. Troupe directors will upload student videos in .mp4 format in the registration system.

• This decision was based largely on data/feedback from our troupe directors, who are pretty evenly split on how we should allocate programming resources with regards to Thespys and other opportunities. This move will open up the space for more workshops and performances.

• The recorded Thespy submissions are open to everyone, not just inducted thespians, and will constitute our Chapter Qualifier for ITF.  All students who earn a Superior will be invited to compete at ITF (but must be inducted before registering for ITF if they intend to compete there).

• While the digital format does have advantages (and is good practice for the pre-screening process that many colleges/conservatories use today), many of us feel strongly that in-person adjudication opportunities are still very important for our students. To preserve that, inducted students who earn a superior will be invited to perform their selection in-person at Festival for feedback and to be considered for inclusion in the Thespy Showcase during Closing Ceremonies.

• Please note: These "Call-Backs" for inducted thespians earning a Superior are optional. In-person adjudicators will provide feedback using the same Thespy rubric, however, the student’s initial score from the digital submission will not be changed.

One Acts Festival

• If you intend to bring a One Act to festival: in addition to registering it in the system - there is a new Google Form to collect information and required documents. There is also a link to view the titles of One Acts submitted to-date so that there are no duplicates.

• By using the Kay Theatre as a third venue, we will be able to offer a total of 19 performance slots this year, with some sessions having 3 One Acts running at the same time! In the event that there are more than 19 submissions, One Acts will be considered in the order in which the Google Forms were completed.

Next Steps

Please check to make sure that you are still able to log into the system and that it is setup correctly for either the High School or the Middle School Festival. (For most Troupe Directors, nothing has changed.)

• If your troupe has never registered for festival with this system before - or you need to create a new “Middle School” account - you can click “Register” and then either “High School” or “Middle School” to create an account.

• Only one account is permitted per school. If you are new to your troupe (and the old director’s account is still in our system) please email us at info@marylandthespians.org and we can switch the account over to the new director.

Please visit the Registration page of the Maryland Thespian website for detailed instructions and helpful guides. Registration will close Friday, November 17th.

Lastly, the Main Stage Series Adjudication form is also open!

• We lowered the price by 1/3 to make it more affordable!

• We have also heard feedback that Troupes would like more student-centered, growth-minded feedback from the adjudication process - regardless of whether or not the show is selected for Mainstage - and we completely agree!!