FAQ

Auditions and interviews typically take place the first full week of school from 8-11pm in Hamilton Hall (location and days of the week vary).

The best (and easiest) way to get involved is to audition or interview for a show, which lets you get involved as an actor or production team member of a production, but if you missed auditions/interviews and still really want to be involved, fill out the contact form and let us know! The board will see if the production needs additional people or if there are any additional opportunities that semester.

If you don’t have any theatre experience but still really want to be involved, never fret! KCST’s Spring show is all-inclusive, so everyone who interviews or auditions for the production gets to be involved!

KCST’s Fall performance dates vary, although recent years have performed a show in late October and a show in mid-November. Tickets for the fall performances are free and will be available through the TIC or through the Columbia Arts Initiative website a couple of weeks before the performance. Even if you don’t get a ticket, these performances offer a wait list which opens 30-45 minutes before the curtain, and we do our best to get as many people into the theater as possible.

KCST’s Spring show is outdoors, free, and moves around, so no ticket is necessary! Just check our social media or the show’s promotional materials to figure out where to meet the production. Recent rendezvous spots have included Low Plaza, Pupin Plaza, the Sundial, and the Van Am Quad. Spring Show tends to take place over the last weekend of classes, often the first weekend in May or the last weekend in April.

This is a great question, but has two very different answers depending on whether you’re interested in acting or working on the production team.

What is the time commitment to act in a show?

The time commitment to act in a show varies depending on the size of the role, but you should expect a minimum of 2 rehearsals a week, including KCST’s Sunday Rehearsal. Rehearsals tend to occur 8-11 Monday-Thursday evenings and/or 1-4 Saturday-Sunday afternoons, although not all of these times are necessarily used.

Acting with KCST should not restrict you participating with other activities on campus—your stage manager will work with you if you have regular conflicts. The only time a show will require everyone to be at rehearsal all the time are in the week/two weeks leading up to the show.

What is the time commitment to be on the production team of a show?

Again, the time commitment varies depending on the size of the role. Stage Managers and Directors are at every rehearsal, and their assistants might be similarly occupied. However, other roles are more flexible, even if they are comparable in time commitment. Designers and producers often spend significant amounts of time working on the production, but their schedules are more flexible since they do not rely on the rehearsal schedule.

If you’re only interested in a smaller time commitment, there are several roles (props, lights, costumes, etc) that require a production team meeting once a week and a significant commitment during tech week. Some productions have opportunities on the publicity team which only ask small tasks throughout the production process.

Yeah, tell us about it. Just kidding! KCST’s outdoor Spring show is an awesome tradition, and (surprisingly) makes a ton of sense! Weather, while occasionally less-than-ideal, is rarely prohibitive, since the outdoor show rehearses a rain track in addition to the regular track.

Otherwise, it kind of works like a regular show with regard to actors, except that the stage moves around, and works like a mega-show with regard to production team, since there are teams of people responsible for moving lights, props, costumes, and set pieces to each location. The tradition is older than (mostly) everyone who puts it on, so we’ve had plenty of time to work out the big kinks.

By the end of the 2026-2027 school year, it is clear that we, as a troupe, have a somewhat tragic inclination. Our most produced plays are Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth, each having been produced five times.

For a complete list of KCST’s production canon, check out our Mission & History!