Tacoma Little Theatre (TLT), Tacoma Musical Playhouse (TMP) and the Washington State Community Theatre Association (WSCTA) have joined in partnership to bring over 600 enthusiasts, advocates and performers from around the country to Tacoma in June of 2009 to celebrate the power of community created theatre. Tacoma was selected in February by the AACT Board and Festival Commission to host AACT’s 2009 biennial festival: AACTFest ’09.

The partnership presented a bid proposal to AACT earlier this year. Jon Douglas Rake, TMP Managing Artistic Director, and Judy Cullen, WSCTA President attended the AACT Winter Board meeting held in Fort Worth, TX in February to make a live presentation of the proposal. Also bidding was the Las Cruces (NM) Community Theatre (LCCT). Larry Fisher, LCCT Past President, and John Bulla of the Las Cruces Convention and Tourism Bureau, traveled to the Fort Worth meeting to present the Las Cruces proposal. (When they learned that Las Cruces was not selected for 2009, they vowed to return to bid on a future festival.)

The festival process that culminates in the national theatre festival sponsored by AACT is held in odd-numbered years. AACTFest presents a forum for community theatres from the ten regions of AACT to enter productions for adjudication and advancement from the state level, to the regional level and finally, to the national level.

There hasn’t been a national community theatre festival on the west coast since 1983 when the Alaska State Community Theatre Association hosted in Haines, AK. AACTFest ’09 will involve hundreds of volunteers from around Washington State, and will bring twelve performing companies from around the United States as well as the representative of the U.S. military abroad.

“Tacoma has a great tradition of community theatre, and Washington is one of the western states that is most active in AACT, “ said WSCTA President, Judy Cullen. “This festival will be a great event for our local theatres and our state organization. I am incredibly excited about the task at hand and all of the terrific northwest hospitality that we will share with our guests.”
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