Dear Coach:  

We are cordially inviting you and/or your students to participate in The MASQ (Making Art while Socially Quarantined) hosted by The Perfect Performance, LLC. The MASQ Virtual Regional #1 will take place the first weekend of December of 2023 and Regional #2 will be in early February of 2024.

The MASQ is designed to give competitors a competitive digital experience with competitive costs and no judge requirements. This competition will serve as a qualifier for the NIETOC national competition next May. For the eight NIETOC events within the OPEN division, finalists will receive an automatic qualification and semifinalists/quarterfinalists will earn a bid if entries warrant in each event.

There are no qualification pre-requisites for a student to enter this tournament. This competition is open to all middle and high school students, provided your state association permits online and national competition. We will offer two divisions:  the JV division will be for middle school and first-year (novice) high school competitors. Any experienced high school students should enter the OPEN division. As long as entries warrant, we will offer competition in both divisions. If necessary, divisions may be collapsed for preliminary, but then separated for elimination rounds.

Each student must submit a single-take (non-edited) videotaped performance in one or more of the following events:  Dramatic Interp, Humorous Interp, Program Interp, Original Oratory, Informative, Prose, Poetry, Duet Acting, Duo Interp and Extemp. Students can enter as many events as they wish. For all events except Extemp, the same video will be used for all rounds of competition. Extempers will submit two videos – one for each prelim and a second video to be used for ALL elimination rounds.

Fees are $40 per event and a $150 per school judging fee (schools do not have to provide any judges as all judges will be hired by the tournament). All entries are due by November 30. A late fee of $15 per entry will apply to those added before December 2nd, after which no entries will be accepted. Payments (or proof of payment) are due by December 3. Unpaid entries after Dec 4 will be dropped from the competition. Entry fees are non-refundable. Payment options will be available at the bottom of your invoice page. If you have any trouble there, you can also use this link to pay via PayPal or with a debit/credit card:  https://paypal.me/themasq?locale.x=en_US

We are planning for three preliminary rounds, quarterfinals (if entries warrant), semifinals and finals. Performances will be judged and critiqued by a nationwide panel of experts who specialize in forensics and theatre. Electronic ballots (with videotaped performances embedded) will be used and educational critiques will be provided to the students immediately following the competition. Students are not required to be present for any part of the tournament.

Planned awards include trophies, medals and masks. The top three teams will receive trophies.

REGISTRATION STEPS:

1. Confirm receipt/acceptance of legally binding document. Coaches registering multiple students will be sent directions for how to do this for each individual.

2. Submit your entries in each of the various categories.

3. Provide piece information (titles/topics)

4. Click on Current Invoice in order to pay fees electronically.

5. Record and upload video (Because it will not allow you to advance without adding information, we recommend adding the words ‘PENDING’ here until you are able to provide the final video clip link.)

6. Once all steps are completed and verified for every entry, your participation will be officially approved and you will receive a confirmation email. Any missing steps will appear on the Registration Page as a ‘Not Yet Approved’ statement in red.

Details regarding our events, schedule, rules and video submission procedures are also available under the ‘Files for Download’ feature of our SpeechWire tournament page. 

Questions regarding registration should be directed to Matt Heimes, Tournament Manager, at mheimes@lps.org or by texting/calling 402-310-4153.

Sincerely,

Demond Wilson

Owner & Founder, The Perfect Performance, LLC