Academics  

    -Theatre/OAP
      

Favorite Questions & Situations

Rules about clothing:

“The play I am doing calls for the baring of a breast. My principal is okay with it. What is the UIL rule on nudity?” What kind of dress code does your school have????

“Can my actor, who is a football player, wear his football uniform on stage since he is playing a football player in our show?” Yes, it does not violate the athletic rules since it is another official school activity.

“What is the UIL rule about length of acrylic fingernails?” No such thing in OAP.

“Is it okay for actors to wear flip-flops or does that violate the barefoot rule?” If they’re wearing flip-flops they’re not barefoot. No such rule in OAP anyway.

“If I have lights in my costumes, are they part of the four lights under 1033?” Better question – Why do you have lights in your costumes?

Staging Quandries:

“Can actors lay on the floor?” Yes.
“Is it ok for a character to die on stage?” How else could you do Hamlet?
“Four of my actors are ineligible. Can we do Twelve Angry Jurors with only eight?” Strange jury, don’t you think?
“The first scene of my play is boring. Can we add a dance before it?” Maybe you should think about your choice of play or your cutting if you hate the first scene of your show.
“Does the 8-hour rule still apply if we have to re-cast a part the week of the show?” State Law cannot be waived by UIL nor by the ineligibility of a student.
“How can I have more than 15 actors?” You can’t.
At the end of my show, can all my actors jump up in the air and freeze? In mid air? Nice trick.

This is my question: “Why do directors insist on casting Off-Stage voices?” They are not judgable and should not be listed as cast. Record them or use a crew member.

Unique set/prop requests:

“Can my fireplace have wheels?” Why?
The limit on lighting instruments is four total, NOT four at a time.
“Can we put caps on the platforms?” No.
“Is a rocking chair in violation of the no-wheels rule?” Is it on wheels?
“May I use real bacon off-stage so that people will know we are using fake bacon on-stage?” Aroma theatre?
“Is it okay for my trees to not have leaves?” “I know I can have 6 trees but can they be dogwoods?” Any kind you like, real/dead, with leaves or not, whatever.
“How can we have 10 minutes of sound/music if no off-stage sound effects are allowed?” Please go back and read the rule. You are confused.
“I bought my vinyl at the fabric store. Doesn’t that mean it’s soft-goods?” No, plastic of any type is NOT cloth/soft-goods.
“If I paint the metal jail bars white or gray, will that make them legal?” How does paint make them non-metallic?
“May I use electrified butterfly balls?” (this one took quite a bit of research) The answer was no, it was a rotating lighting instrument.
“Are sounds part of my set additions?” Huh?
“We don’t have any 6’ pylons but we have six - 4’ pylons. Can we use those instead?” No.

A side bar to set questions would be the most frequently misspelled/mislabeled unit set pieces and props:

Pylon – pilon, pillar, column, pile-on
Platforms – risers, flats
Flats – 2-fold & 3-fold screens, walls, folds
1’ Platforms – cubes, boxes, pylons, squares
Barrel – barel, barrell, barell

Continuing Myths:

You have 45 minutes total to act, set, strike. No, each activity has a specific time limit.
If I only have 12 cast members, I can have 7 crew members. No.
There is a grace period over 40 minutes. No.
If you don’t finish your show ( you close curtain at 40 or blackout), you cannot advance. No. There is not a rule that says you have to finish your show.
There is a specified amount of space set by the state office for storage of props/scenery. No. How could we possibly know how large each stage used in the state for competition is?
The judge should not know who you are, what schools are performing or what shows are being done. They would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice the big yellow bus with your school district’s name on it and the banner hanging out the window for your show, not to mention the show T-shirts that each child and director are wearing.

You, as the director or a parent, can protest the results of a contest after they are announced. No, only an administrator can make an official protest.
There is a 4 x 8 rule. Pertaining to what?
You cannot stack the unit set higher than 8’. Wrong.
It is okay to get directing or design help on your One-Act from ex-students. NO Read the faculty director rule.

The League office works during Christmas to answer all those who waited until Dec. 21 to submit their set/play request. Wrong.
The League office takes spring break. Wrong.
No one really looks at the Eligibility Notices in the State Office. That’s what I do during your spring break!!!

My play calls for a baby or small child. If I use a doll does this count as one of my 15 actors?

I don’t know why my play request was returned to me. I sent it to the address on the sample letter in the Handbook– All American High School, 123 School Lane, Austin, Tx 78701. (Go look at the Sample Letter in your Handbook, if you don’t get this one.)

In reference to the 50% rule – If I put two pylons together, can I cover 75% of one and 25% of the other? Can I cover more than 50% of a pylon if I turn it around? No, on all accounts.

Can I use chain link for my fence? No, you may not use anything metallic to construct your fence. What if I paint it brown?

Is it permissible to use 1’ x 1’ boxes measuring up to 42” ?

I’ve been judging for several years, but my name didn’t appear on the February listing of New Judges.

Questions that sound funny over the phone:

How big is your moon? How did your actress’ shoe fly off?

Why are you using toilet plungers for your actor’s feet?

I have a question about inaudible sounds.

Questions I would rather not hear anymore:
What is the mailing address for UIL? Look at your Handbook or any piece of UIL letterhead you’ve ever gotten or the website!
What is the Fax number? Look in your Handbook!
What is my district, conference, area or region number? Look on the website!

Every question or situation was actually called or emailed to the State Office.