In a whirlwind of a weekend, Theatre33 cast and crew of Constellations braved the snow, ice and closed passes to make the drive to Spokane, WA to represent Bellevue at the Washington State Community Theatre Association's Kaleidoscope Festival. Hosted by the Stage Left Theatre, the festival was held at the Magnuson Theatre at Gonzaga University. Seven community theatres from all over WA brought their best productions before their peers, Spokane audiences and the three AACT-approved adjudicators.
The AACT Festivals follow a very strict protocol: each group gets 30 minutes to load their set into a 10x10ft square, 80 minutes to have a tech run - test the lights, sounds, distribute the set onto the stage, mark it up and then leave to return for the show that same day. The performances follow a 10-60-10 rule - there are 10 minutes to get everything from the 10x10 ft square and get ready, then 60 minutes to perform and then another 10 minutes to get everything back into the 10x10 square. Immediately after that, the cast and crew are sited in front of the adjudicators to receive feedback.
Despite all the preparation, a "mobile" production in an unfamiliar venue adds layers of complexity coated in anxiety. However, the team concentrated on the most important reason they came to the festival - to tell the story of Roland and Marianne. And they sure did! The loud laughter during the meeting and drunk scenes, quickly turned to a deafening silence as the viewers were holding on to each word when the story unfolded. Not even a movement or screeching of a chair was heard, just the music and our voices.
Adjudicators praised Marianna for her directorial choices, commented about some of the set pieces and commended us (Christophe and me) on our delivery and connection. Since we were the last to perform (and hungry), we briefly escaped to grab some dinner and joined everyone at the afterglow party at Stage Left, where our colleagues congratulated us and raved about the set.
On Sunday, at the awards ceremony, we learned an amazing news that we are one of the two theaters in WA to represent the state at the AACT's Region IX Festival in Boise, ID at the end of March! Sadly, Marianna left by then to head home and we didn't get a chance to properly celebrate our numerous wins, but we welcome all our audiences and friends to join us in that celebration when we bring the Festival Version of the Constellations back to our home stage on March 7 and 9th!
Our awards
Outstanding Lighting Design – Marianna Chebotaryova, Constellations
Outstanding Sound Design – Marianna Chebotaryova, Constellations
Outstanding Production – Constellations, Theatre33
Kaleidoscope 2025 All-Star Cast Award: Era Pogosova (Theatre33)
Kaleidoscope 2025 All-Star Cast Award: Christophe Peyras (Theatre33)
The Keith Gehrig Spectacular Design Element Award: The Set of Constellations, Theatre33
You can read Greg Heilman's review of the play on The Sound on Stage. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts: “…exquisitely crafted and beautifully performed piece of theatre…”. “what Marianna Chebotaryova has accomplished with this piece, not just as the Director, but also as set, sound, and lighting designer, and overall technical director, is quite an achievement…”. “Bringing this all together on stage, of course, presenting this relationship, is the acting pair of Era and Christophe.” “With Constellations, Theatre33 proves that sometimes the best theatre can be found in the smallest places. Magnificently designed, soulfully acted, and just superbly put together…”
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