Fort Stockton Community Theatre is preparing for TEXFest state competition held by The Network for Theatre (TNT). TEXFest will be held Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 17-19 at the Cailloux Theatre in Kerrville.

Alice Duerksen is directing Pam Palileo, Laura McKenzie, Kathy Montanez, and Penny Smith in “Rude Awakenings” by Nicolas Ridley of Great Britain. Emma Morales is stage manager for the play. Elijah Nix and J.B. Gallegos are running lights and sound, and Randall Montanez and Andy Smith are crew members. Mr. Ridley’s play will be making its debut in the United States with FSCT’s performance.

The story takes place at The Little Gissing Art Group’s Annual Exhibition and Competition. One of the paintings entered in the competition is called “Awakening,” and provides, as the title suggests, “Rude Awakenings” for the contest judge and those attending the exhibition. The play has a good mix of humor and drama.

TNT has divided the state of Texas into quads. Fort Stockton is in Quad I, which is basically from Amarillo south to San Antonio and west of that line to El Paso. In non-Covid years, competitions are held in each quad to determine which two plays will advance to state competition, but this year TNT determined that no quad competitions would be held and that ten plays could be entered directly into state competition.

FSCT is the only theatre participating from Quad I. The five other theatres entering the contest are Playhouse 2000 from Kerrville; Brazosport Center Stages from Clute; Baytown Little Theatre; Bastrop Opera House; and Boerne Community Theatre.

FSCT will perform and be judged on Friday, Feb. 18 at 4:00 p.m.

There are strict timelines and rules for size of the set, much like UIL One-Act Play for schools. All set pieces, props, and costumes must fit in a 10-foot square off-stage, and the crew has ten minutes to put the set in place onstage. The play must not exceed 60 minutes, and then the crew has ten minutes to strike the set, putting it back in the 10-foot square. Any infraction of time or rules will disqualify the play. The play is given a ten-minute adjudication by three trained and certified judges. The judges’ scores will determine which two plays will advance to Southwest Regional competition.

Since there is no adjudication at the quad level this year, TNT is providing a pre-contest adjudicator for each company entering a play.

FSCT will be adjudicated by Ben Spencer from Midland on Friday, Jan. 28. Mr. Spencer’s feedback and critique will help the director, cast, and crew to make adjustments to enhance their performance at contest.

“Rude Awakenings” will be performed for the general public on Thursday, Feb. 17, at The Nelson Street Theatre at 7:00 p.m. The performance will be free, but donations to defray travel expenses for the group will gladly be accepted. Following the performance of “Rude Awakenings,” Kerry Winters – a local hospital employee – will present a program of his original poetry. This presentation will also be free to the public.