E4T - Tech Theatre Design Requirement One-Sheet for Shakespeare DTASC 2026
Featured plays for Shakespeare Festival, 2026 are A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet
There is no max to the number of designers that participate in the creation of each design, however all designers must be students enrolled at your school. However, there are limits on the number of presenters that may be present in the competition room.
- VARSITY: All groups may have 1-4 presenters.
- JV & MIDDLE SCHOOL: All groups may have 1-6 presenters.
All categories include an 8-minute presentation where designers have an opportunity to share their design products and discuss their inspiration and design process. After all the 8 min. Presentations, there will be a Tech Finals Round where the finalists have 3 mins to answer questions from the judges. (The time starts when the questions are answered.)
Requirements listed below are a general overview, please click on the individual links for detailed rubrics and expectations for each category.
T1 - Set Design
- Concept & Inspiration board (in print) with concept or Design & Research notebook
- (Certificate of achievement awarded for finalists meeting all notebook criteria.)
- Set Design: with printed Front Elevation & Ground plan, using correct scale and dimensions
- Please note all scene(s) of the play that this set is used for, in your paperwork.
- MS Division - 1 scene;
- JV Division - 2 scenes;
- Varsity - 3 scenes (2 scenes should be sequential to demonstrate practicality of transitions)
- If design is digital, color front elevations and floor plan, using ¼” or ½ “ = 1’ scale, are required, in printed format.
- Students presenting a digital design are responsible for bringing appropriate technology (digital and printed) to share with judges. (Please download the files; do not count on internet access.)
- Set Dressing: Show Set Props, furniture, foliage, practical choices for set
- Set Construction:
- One physical set model using correct scale and dimensions for one scene during the play..
- Actual Set Model Construction Expenses
- For set model physical, $100.00 materials cost summary is required, with receipts. (Materials needed for construction of black box to house set model are not included in $100.00 total.)
T2 - Light Design (Varsity & JV Only)
- Concept & Inspiration board (in print) with concept or Design & Research notebook
- (Certificate of achievement awarded for finalists meeting all notebook criteria.)
- One (1) Light Plot of one Scene or Section of the Play. Note: There is still only one light plot, but it must accommodate multiple scenes.
- (Must include a set design using ¼” or ½“ = 1’ scale.)
- One (1) light prompt script. (Must include a sequence of a minimum number of cues)
- JV: 5-10 Cues
- Varsity: 10-15 Cues for Varsity. These may cover more than one scene.
- including circuiting chart, color schedule, and focus chart.
- No theoretical budget is required for this category.
T3 - Marketing & Publicity
**Do Not Mention Actual School’s Name on any part. Make up a Fictitious School Name.
Make sure artwork is original
- Concept Notebook, Target Audience, and Key Art
- (in print) with concept or Design & Research notebook
- (Certificate of achievement awarded for finalists meeting all notebook criteria.)
- One (1) Theatrical Press Release
- Identify 3 media outlets
- Publicity plan ideas, including calendar.
- 1 idea for Middle School,
- 2 for Junior Varsity,
- 3 for Varsity
- Poster (MS, JV & Varsity)
- Website Landing Page (Varsity only)
- Identify (2) two paid advertisement opportunities
- Timeline & Budget for Publicity and Marketing
- MS, $250/budget;
- JV, $500 Budget;
- Varsity, $1000 budget
- For physical presentation, $100.00 Actual Expenses for materials, with receipts
T4 - Character Costume
- Concept & Inspiration board (in print) with concept or Design & Research notebook
- (Certificate of achievement awarded for finalists meeting all notebook criteria.)
- Choosing from one of the two featured plays.
- Three (3) color costume renderings with fabric swatches, identified by character name and scene number.
- Fully realized costume for one of the renderings. If the model speaks they count towards the max # of presenters, if they don’t speak, they do not count towards the max # of presenters.
- Parts of this costume must be constructed; It cannot be assembled entirely from existing pieces.
- Costume may be on a mannequin brought by presenting school or on a human model.
- $100.00 allowed for materials. Cost summary included, receipts required.
- Color makeup renderings with makeup schedule – one for each costume.
T5 - World Court Costume
- Concept & Inspiration board (in print) with concept or Design & Research notebook
- (Certificate of achievement awarded for finalists meeting all notebook criteria.)
- All designs must be derived from a Royal Court from anywhere in the world during the lifetime of William Shakespeare.
- Three (3) color costume renderings with fabric swatches, identified by name.
- *One or two of these costumes must be for a person of the Royal Court; the other one or two costumes are for non-royal citizens / commoners of that country. Three total.
- Fully realized costume for one of the renderings. If the model speaks they count towards the max # of presenters, if they don’t speak, they do not count towards the max # of presenters.
- Parts of this costume must be constructed; It cannot be assembled entirely from existing pieces.
- Costume may be on a mannequin brought by presenting school or on a human model.
- $100.00 allowed for materials. Cost summary included, receipts required.
- Color makeup renderings with makeup schedule – one for each costume. Include brand charts (costs not required).
T6 SOUND DESIGN RUBRIC (Varsity only)
Overview:
Students will design a soundscape for a scene or scenes (maximum 10 minutes) from a published and produced play or musical. Each year, DTASC will have a selected play or theme for all participating schools. The sound design should enhance the storytelling, mood, and dramatic arc of the piece, demonstrating both creativity and technical skill.
- Concept Research/Inspiration:
- Explaining the designer’s creative choices and how the design supports the storytelling.
- (in print) with concept or Design & Research notebook
- Visual references for inspiration (e.g., time period, setting)
- (Certificate of achievement awarded for finalists meeting all notebook criteria.)
- Listing 10-15 sound cues with descriptions and intended emotional/atmospheric effects.
- Cues might include:
- Ambient background (e.g., city noise, forest, war zone)
- Stingers or transitions (e.g., magical chime, dramatic whoosh)
- Environmental effects (e.g., thunder, doors creaking)
- Pre-recorded music or underscore to evoke mood or period
Underscoring can be original - Can prerecord dialogue of the script
- Character voice effects or Foley work (if relevant)
- Cue number
- Script moment
- Brief description of purpose (e.g., "Cue 2 – windstorm builds tension during argument")
- Use your own devices to play your designs
- Include 3–5 sound cues or transitions (sound samples), edited together or presented as standalone tracks.
- Prerecorded
- Audio Samples: To demonstrate how your sound design choices enhance specific moments in the script.
- Copyright: How is copyright handled for the design?
- Address the need to get the license and how to do that, but for the festival there is no need to pay for it
- Describe whether music/sound effect was found or how it was made/recorded. How did you record this?
- List the source
- Equipment & Input List, Stage Plot
- Specifications of what equipment your theater has to work with
- What type of equipment will you have
- Define your space: what you usually rent/ have access to
- Map out the space and how and what equipment is included in your design
- Explain the space and what equipment you have WITHOUT saying what School you are at
- Diagrams of speaker/mic placement
- Certain number of channels for the board?
- Mic list (what kind and for whom?)
- Do certain characters share?
- How would you use this mic or would you swap mics?
- Budget & Not as Free as Possible
- How does your budget fit into your show? Renting, Adding?
- If you have an expensive design beyond means of school, then justify, explain how
- Note: No theoretical budget is required for this category.