Published: 6 August 2024
Thank you for your interest in joining Washington Area Theater Community Honors (WATCH). Before submitting your petition form, please carefully consider the following criteria for eligibility. This information is a summarized excerpt from the WATCH Policy Manual. For more information or clarification, contact the WATCH board.
Eligibility Criteria to Join WATCH
Your theater company must
- Produce an announced season of at least three full length main stage productions each year.
- Be volunteer in nature and mission.
- Not perform dinner theater and/or children’s theater exclusively.*
- Have been active for two complete and consecutive seasons prior to petition.
- Perform within the established WATCH boundaries of the greater metropolitan Washington area (District of Columbia; Maryland counties of Prince George’s and Montgomery; Virginia counties of Fairfax and Arlington and all encompassed cities).
*Productions classified as “children’s theater” (performed primarily by and/or for high school age and below), “dinner theater” (any production where the cost of a base ticket includes food/drink), “radio plays,” and “staged readings” are not eligible for adjudication. However, these productions (along with original revues and one-act compilations) may be used to meet the WATCH membership criteria if they are presented as part of a theater’s regular main stage season of three or more full-length performances.
Waivers
You may apply for either/both of the following waivers, which require a two-thirds approval from the WATCH Board before your petition will be considered.
- A petitioning group with a history of producing fewer than three shows per year may request a waiver to this requirement on their petition.
- A petitioning group with a performance facility in a county that does not touch or fall within the Washington, D.C. Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495) may request a waiver to this requirement on their petition. Groups located more than a 35-mile drive from the Washington Monument will not be eligible for a waiver, and therefore ineligible for WATCH membership.
Additional Commitment Requirements
- Petitions must be received before June 30 to be considered for membership and participation in the next adjudication year (calendar year). Petitions will be considered at the July quarterly meeting and voted on in the October quarterly meeting. As a petitioning company, you should send a representative to both meetings.
- In order to participate in the upcoming adjudication year (starting January 1), you must submit: your expected production schedule of shows eligible for adjudication for the next calendar year (by November 15); contact information on four adjudicators plus alternates; payment of dues (by December 1). Failure to submit by the deadlines constitutes grounds for revocation and/or delay of membership start.
- You must provide a representative to the WATCH board to attend and vote during quarterly meetings, serve on committees, communicate with your board, and be responsible for submitting production schedule, dues, and adjudicator information.