Directing | Kennedy Center

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) Directing Initiative
SDC is the theatrical union that unites, empowers and protects
professional stage Directors and Choreographers throughout the United States. Founded in 1959, has spent the last six decades fighting for the rights and livelihoods of these seminal artists.

The SDC Directing Initiative provides recognition, honor, and financial assistance to outstanding student directors who have demonstrated success in direction. One student director from each region will be selected as a Regional Finalist and invited to participate at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC each April. This finalist will be awarded travel, lodging and per diem expenses, as well as attendance at KCACTF National Festival workshops and performances. In addition, finalists receive a one year Associate Membership in SDC.

SDC underwrites the National Award(s), presented to at least one National Fellowship recipient, which is the result of a unique collaboration between SDC and KCACTF. Associate Membership in SDC introduces each regional finalist to the national community of professional stage directors and choreographers. Additionally, they receive the monthly E-Newsletter, a subscription to SDC Journal (the Union’s quarterly magazine), free or discounted admission to SDC Foundation’s events, and specially negotiated discounts. For more information about SDC, please visit the website at SDCWeb.org.

Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

Program

Eligibility

Student directors participate in the SDC Directing Initiative at each Regional Festival. To be eligible, students must be:

Attending an institution that has entered either an associate or participating production during the year in which the nomination occurs; and
A bona fide student at the time of the Regional Festival.

Event

The structure of the SDC Directing Initiative differs a bit from region to region, but the core elements include:

Before the Event: Student directors choose a scene from the list below; prepare a statement on their vision for their scene, and sign up for the event. Some regions ask that these statements are submitted as videos. Regions also sometimes ask that directors’ books be submitted in advance, so that respondents have time to review them.
Round 1: Student directors present the short scene they have chosen, utilizing a cast of bona fide student actors. A panel of two or three respondents give feedback on the director’s choices and work.
Round 2: Those selected to advance from the preliminary round will participate in an interview with the respondents, during which their director’s book, statement, and approach will be discussed.
Round 3: Up to six scenes will be selected for presentation in this final round, which will occur at least two days following the preliminary round to allow the director and actors to work on the scene based on feedback from the preliminary round. A response session will follow the final round.

How to Participate

Check your Region's website for application details as well as for specifics on logistics, technical provisions, casting, and organization.

SDC Directing Initiative at the National Festival

One student director from each region is selected to attend the KCACTF National Festival, with travel, lodging and per diem provided by the Kennedy Center.

At the National Festival, students participate in master classes and discussions with professional directors. Students learn about and cultivate different skills and directing approaches through hands-on staging and analysis activities. Selection for further awards and residencies is based on participation at the National Festival, and on at least two projects assigned in advance by guest artists. For clarity, the scene prepared for the regional SDC process will not be presented in Washington, D.C.

SDC Scene Selections 2024 and 2025

All entrants for the 2023 and 2025 Regional Festivals will prepare one from the list of scenes below, selected by the SDC fellowship alumni.

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell (Nick Hern Books)
“This scene and this play as a whole is an amazing challenge for a young director due it's subject matter and how Treadwell has crafted this mechanical and cold world. The speech at the end alone is a monster for any actor or director willing to take this on. The scene also poses a challenging question about motherhood and the availability of choice in taking on that role.” – Jordan Mitchell, 2022 and 2023 Region 1 SDC Fellow

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield (Broadway Play Publishing)
“One of the most important aspects of this show is developing a united trio who can work off each other. This scene puts that chemistry to the test as these silly and larger than life characters have to earnestly contend with a betrayal of trust within their group. The director who works on this also has a chance to bring more of themselves to the humor of the scene, if they choose to change the show that Jess is obsessed with.” – Jordan Mitchell, 2022 and 2023 Region 1 SDC Fellow

Passage by Christopher Chen (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Abigail Torres, Region 7 2023 SDC Fellow

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly-Guirgis (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Abigail Torres, Region 7 2023 SDC Fellow

Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Dramatists Play Service)
"This is quite a challenging play, both in its staging and content. I particularly love it because it asks the director to constantly build tension in an ensemble scene that constantly twists and turns with fluid status and complex chunks of dialogue. In this play, it’s my interpretation that no character is fully in the right, nor fully in the wrong, but thats what makes it so interesting— it asks the audience to interrogate their own familial relationships and how complex layers of dueling truths can exist at the same time." – Nabeel Jan, Region 2 2023 SDC Fellow

Doctor Voynich and Her Children by Leanna Keyes (Bloomsbury Publishing, The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays)
"This 'prediction' is set in America years after reproductive health care has been made illegal. Doctor Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the countryside in a converted ambulance dispensing harmless herbs by day and providing family planning services by night. Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using forbidden knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the 'attempted murder of an unborn person.' This play about mothers and daughters is poetic, sexy, vulgar, queer, and a little too real. Doctor Voynich and Her Children provides an excellent opportunity for young directors who are eager to tackle a bold and exposed script.” – Erin White, Region 7 2021 SDC Fellow

Arbor Falls by Caridad Svich (New Play Exchange)
Recommended by Sanhawich Meateanuwat, Region 3 2022 SDC Fellow

Rx Machina by Caity-Shea Violette (New Play Exchange)
"I love this play— the dialogue and character interactions in this piece are constantly layered— their true intentions are often hidden and others have to work to figure out what is really going on. I also especially enjoy the moments where characters snap out of their normal, or expected, paths, and portray what the other character sees. It is also quite appropriate to do now, as the effects of the ongoing opioid epidemic are being litigated in society (and courts) and blame must be assigned." – Nabeel Jan, Region 2 2023 SDC Fellow

Big Love by Charles L. Mee (https://www.charlesmee.org/big-love.shtml)
Recommended by Amanda Baschnagel, Region 6 2023 SDC Fellow

The Language Archive by Julia Cho (Dramatists Play Service)
Recommended by Sanhawich Meateanuwat, Region 3 2022 SDC Fellow

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SDC Directing