Howard Community College To Host Prestigious American College Theatre Festival
Howard Community College (HCC) will host the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) Region II Conference January 13–17, welcoming over 500 theatre students and faculty members from colleges and universities across the Mid-Atlantic. HCC is the first community college in the region to host the prestigious festival and was selected as the host in January 2025.
“It is an honor to welcome the American College Theatre Festival participants to Dragon Country, providing our students with the opportunity to develop their skill, insight, and professionalism as they prepare for a career in the performing arts,” said Daria J. Willis, Ph.D., President of Howard Community College. “At HCC, we meet our students where they dream, and it is a privilege to be a destination on their journey towards achieving their goals.”
The HCC Theatre Program’s fall 2025 production, “Anomalous,” was selected to be performed at the festival. Selected productions are considered some of the best in the region and are eligible for national recognition. Written and directed by HCC Professor and Department Head of Performing Arts, Bill Gillett, “Anomalous” is the only production by a community college included in this year's festival, and the college’s fourth production to be invited to perform at ACTF in the last decade.
More than just a play, “Anomalous” is an immersive, environmental theatre event. Audiences are guided in small groups into the heart of a live experiment in cutting-edge science that dares to reveal visions beyond time and space. But behind the groundbreaking discoveries lie questionable origins and buried secrets. As the lines between reality and memory begin to blur, participants find themselves swept into a thrilling, into a mind-bending theatre experience like no other — gripping, mysterious, and utterly unforgettable.
In addition to the invited productions, students and faculty will hear from distinguished keynote speakers, attend a series of workshops and audition opportunities.
HCC belongs to ACTF Region 2, which includes colleges and universities from Maryland, Western New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Northern Virginia.