Eligibility & Competition Rules

Eligible Organizations

The Theatre Night Awards welcome productions presented by:

• Elementary schools

• Middle schools

• High schools

• District-wide theatre programs

• Youth theatre organizations

• Summer camps

• Other educational theatre organizations

Summer camps, district-wide programs, mixed-age programs, and other educational theatre organizations will be contacted to determine the most appropriate competition division.

Eligible Productions

Productions must have been performed and recorded by January 15, 2027. A production submitted for a previous Theatre Night Awards season may not be submitted again.

Both published and original or devised productions may be entered. Productions must be identified as either a play or musical during registration so that the appropriate nomination materials and adjudication rubric can be provided.

Student Eligibility

Productions may include adult performers; however, only performers who were enrolled in the applicable school division at the time of the production are eligible for individual acting nominations.

A performer’s eligibility is determined by their enrollment at the time the production was presented—not their enrollment status when registration or nomination materials are submitted.

Multiple Casts

Productions with multiple casts must identify each cast during registration. A separate nomination submission is required for each cast that will be considered independently.

Production Divisions

High-school productions may be assigned to the Foundational, Established, or Comprehensive division.

Division placement is determined by the Theatre Night Awards adjudication team based on the production’s resources, program structure, budget, facilities, staffing, and other relevant circumstances. Division placement is not an assessment of the students’ talent, the production’s quality, or the educational value of the program.

Production IDs

Each registered production will receive a unique Production ID. This ID must be included on all subsequent production, acting, specialty-category, and adjudication forms.

Individual Acting Nominations

Registration includes consideration of up to seven individual performers from each production.

Each performer must be submitted separately through the Individual Acting Nomination Form. Teachers must provide the performer’s name, character, nomination category, and required timestamps.

Specialty Categories

Specialty-category nominations must be submitted separately using the Specialty Category Nomination Form.

Because specialty categories do not apply to every production, they are not included in the overall production score. A specialty category may be offered only when at least three eligible entries are received.

Leaving an inapplicable specialty category blank will not count against a production.

Recordings and Supporting Materials

Production recordings, required timestamps, and supporting materials must be submitted by the published deadline.

Recording and Google Drive permissions must remain accessible to Theatre Night Awards staff and adjudicators throughout the adjudication period. Passwords and special viewing instructions must be provided when applicable.

Theatre Night Awards is not responsible for materials that cannot be reviewed because of inaccessible links, expired permissions, missing passwords, or incorrect timestamps.

Adjudication

Productions are assessed using published criteria appropriate to plays and musicals. Categories marked N/A are excluded from the applicable scoring total.

Plays are evaluated in the following overall areas:

• Scenic Design

• Costume Design

• Lighting Design

• Sound Design

• Acting

• Directing

Musicals are evaluated in the following overall areas:

• Scenic Design

• Costume Design

• Lighting Design

• Sound Design

• Acting

• Directing

• Musical Direction

• Musical Ensemble

Individual acting and specialty-category nominations are evaluated separately from the overall production score.

The Theatre Night Awards reserves the right to resolve questions involving eligibility, division placement, production classification, and unusual circumstances not specifically addressed in these rules.