Dramatic Interpretation

Dramatic Interpretation (often shortened to "Dramatic Interp," "Drama" or just "DI") is an event in National Speech and Debate Association (and NSDA-related) high school forensics competitions. In the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association and the National Catholic Forensic League, the event is combined with Humorous Interpretation to create the Dramatic Performance event. It consists of a piece from any published work, edited to fit within a 10-minute span with a 30-second grace period (it does not have a minimum and cannot be above 10:30).High School Unified Manual: Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations. 2017 ed. Vol. 1.0. National Speech and Debate Association, 2017. PDF. Updated February 2017

In a typical round of DI, five to seven performers will each perform a "cutting" (excerpt) from a readily available, published (copyrighted or non-copyrighted) play, novel, or short story. As the name suggests, the cuttings are invariably from non-comedic (e.g., dramatic) works. Some performers select monologues, others may adopt the roles of many different characters, changing their tone, manner, and the position of their body to indicate a change in character.

After all of the competitors have performed, the judge (or judges) in the round will rank them from best to worst, and assign each of them a score. Contestants who score well will "break" out of preliminary rounds and continue to advance through octo/quarter/semi/final rounds if they continue to score well.

NSDA Nationals

National Speech and Debate Association Nationals was hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2016. National Champions are awarded a scholarship of US$1,000. To receive the title a competitor must have the lowest cumulative score throughout the duration of the tournament. The Dramatic Interpretation competitor to receive the lowest cumulative score in the final round is awarded the BAMA Bowl and a US$500 scholarship. The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament is the largest academic competition in the world.

Past NSDA Champions

Year Competitor Academic Institution 1931 Kathryn Harney Peoria-Manual, Illinois 1932 Pauline Crockett California, Pennsylvania 1933 Denton Snyder Humboldt, Iowa 1934 Donald Swanson Webster City, Iowa 1935 Mary Ann Porterfield Topeka, Kansas 1936 Caleb Peterson Peekskill, New York 1937 Virginia Kraft Mediapolis, Iowa 1938 Jack Edwards Hollywood, California 1939 Ben Morris Oklahoma City-Classen, Oklahoma 1940 James Lee Santa Rosa, California 1941 Jean Swidensky Oklahoma City-Central, Oklahoma 1946 Rae June Decker DuQuoin, Illinois 1947 Beulah Meacham Canton-McKinley, Ohio 1948 Ralph Jensen Kenosha, Wisconsin 1949 Carolyn Parks Santa Rosa, California 1950 Carolyn Parks Santa Rosa, California 1951 Sue Routsong Dayton-Oakwood, Ohio 1955 Shirley Shubin Los Angeles HS, California 1956 Dan McCall Modesto, California 1957 April Shawhan Dayton-Fairmont, Ohio 1958 Karen McPeek Euclid, Ohio 1959 Alan Haufrect Houston-Bellaire, Texas 1960 Albertha Hillmon Stockton Edison, California 1961 Paul Bernath Houston-Jesse Jones, Texas 1962 Joe Rowlette West Plains, Missouri 1963 Andy Fichter Delaware-Hayes, Ohio 1964 Camille Waters Houston-Bellaire, Texas 1965 Suzanne Abernathy Paris-Grove, Tennessee 1966 Joan Rue Lexington-Clay, Kentucky 1967 Brent Mintz Houston-Bellaire, Texas 1968 Ruben Delgado Stockton Edison, California 1969 Darren Kelley Anaheim-Loara, California 1970 John Wall Campbellsville, Kentucky 1971 John Leamer Fairmont East HS, Kettering, Ohio 1972 Annalee Jefferies Houston-Bellaire HS, Texas 1973 Mark Ferguson Perry HS, Ohio 1974 Robert Rosenberg Toledo-DeVilbiss HS, Ohio 1975 Darryl Bowdre McAlester HS, Oklahoma 1976 Lynne Joyner Bellevue Newport HS, Washington 1977 Michael Mandell Logansport HS, Indiana 1978 Andrew Sattee Pine Crest Prep. HS, Florida 1979 Steven Young New Richmond HS, Wisconsin 1980 Solveig Olsen Sioux Falls-Lincoln, South Dakota 1981 Darrell Johnson Okmulgee, Oklahoma 1982 Greg Dolph Chesterton HS, Indiana 1983 Robert Strain San Antonio-Roosevelt, Texas 1984 Geoff Abbott Sioux Falls-O’Gorman HS, South Dakota 1985 Andy Thornton San Antonio-Churchill HS, Texas 1986 David Getzendaner Kansas City-Park Hill, Missouri 1987 Lance Harshbarger Shawnee Mission-South HS, Kansas 1988 Brenda McElroy Milton Academy, Massachusetts 1989 Greg Wilson Hanks HS, Texas 1990 Dan Sklar Glenbrook North HS, Illinois 1991 Demond Wilson Vines HS, Texas 1992 Colin Stokes San Antonio-Churchill, Texas 1993 Chris Conner Kinkaid School, Texas 1994 Danny Beaty Miami Valley School, Ohio 1995 Susan Bohannon Albuquerque Academy, New Mexico 1996 Jelena Moore James Logan HS, California 1997 Michael Washington Plano Sr. HS, Texas 1998 Michael Urie Plano Sr. HS, Texas 1999 John Egan Eagan HS, Minnesota 2000 Esther Etuk Newman Smith HS, Texas 2001 Aimee DeShayes Syosset HS, New York 2002 Krystyn Spratt Apple Valley HS, Minnesota 2003 Pierre Clark James Logan HS, California 2004 D’Angelo Lacy Creekview HS, Texas 2005 Cory D. Stewart Eastview HS, Minnesota 2006 Blake Williams The Montgomery Academy, Alabama 2007 Nana Amoah, Jr. Edison HS, Virginia 2008 Stephen Elrod Bellarmine College Prep, California 2009 Jane Bruce Ogden HS, Utah 2010 Michael Carone Monsignor Farrell HS, New York 2011 Jamaque Newberry Nova HS, Florida 2012 Deshawn Weston Grand Prairie HS, Texas 2013 Anthony Nadeau Royal Palm Beach HS, Florida 2014 Abigail Onwunali Hastings HS, Texas 2015 Daniel Williams Holy Cross School, Louisiana 2016 Izabella Czejdo McDowell HS, Pennsylvania 2017 Chase Garrett Southside HS, South Carolina 2018 Kimberly Lee Summit HS, New Jersey 2019 Jacob Foster Comeaux HS, Louisiana 2020 Semaj Lee Apple Valley HS, Minnesota 2021 Giana Martinez L. C. Anderson HS, Texas 2022 Logan Green Hattiesburg HS, Mississippi 2023 Kylan Williams Comeaux HS, Louisiana 2024 Karla Rivera Harlingen HS South, Texas

Rules

Dramatic Interpretation falls under the jurisdiction of events under the category defined as “Interpretation” by the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA). These events are Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Program Oral Interpretation. Events that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the following rules include, but are not limited to Poetry, Prose, and Storytelling. The National Speech and Debate Associations rules are organized into categories of length, material, material availability, performance, re-use, and website approval submission process.High School Unified Manual: Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations. 2017 ed. Vol. 1.0. National Speech and Debate Association, 2017. PDF. Updated February 2017

Length The set time limit is ten minutes with a thirty-second period in which a student may go overtime with no penalty, colloquially referred to as a 'grace period.'According to National Speech and Debate Association rules, a student who exceeds the ten minute and thirty-second time limit cannot be awarded the rank of 1st in the round. There is no minimum time limit.High School Unified Manual: Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations. 2017 ed. Vol. 1.0. National Speech and Debate Association, 2017. PDF. Updated February 2017 pg 43-44.

Material and material availability A student may choose from a single work of literature to perform. Acceptable forms of literature include:High School Unified Manual: Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations. 2017 ed. Vol. 1.0. National Speech and Debate Association, 2017. PDF. Updated February 2017 pg 43-44. Novels Plays Anthologies where only one piece of literature is performed Poetry Song lyrics

Performance In Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Humorous Interpretation performers are not permitted to use any type of "physical objects or costuming."High School Unified Manual: Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations. 2017 ed. Vol. 1.0. National Speech and Debate Association, 2017. PDF. Updated February 2017 pg 45. In addition, students may not: Adapt material for purposes other than transitional. Controversially, sub-point 5. An under Interpretations on the National Speech and Debate Association Manual has been used to disqualify national finalist and national champions during and after the final round at National Speech and Debate Association Nationals. (See Humorous Interpretation (Contestant H208)) Rely on the use of scripts.

Re-use Students may not perform the same work of literature at any National Speech and Debate Association tournament if they have already done so in a separate contestant year.

Website approval submission process All piece selection is subject to online year-round review.

Collegiate Dramatic Interpretation In intercollegiate forensics, a competitor may use one or more theatrical scripts to craft a dramatic narrative involving one or multiple characters. The dramatic material can originate from a variety of sources, ranging from stage, screen, to radio. Unlike dramatic interpretation performances at the high school level, collegiate competitors are required to use a manuscript throughout their performance.

Past AFA Champions

Year Competitor Academic Institution 1978 Scott Schaeffer DePaul University 1979 Terry Kiel Minnesota State University, Mankato 1980 Steve Geck St. Cloud State University 1981 Mark Fredo PennWest Clarion 1982 Michael Eckert George Mason University 1983 Philip Shelburne Southern Utah University 1984 Greg Dolph Bradley University 1985 Greg Dolph Bradley University 1986 Greg Dolph Bradley University 1987 Vincent Bly Kansas State University 1988 Florence Woodard Howard University 1989 Sarah Braun Bradley University 1990 Paige Petrucka Southern Utah University 1991 Zoe Brown University of Alabama 1992 Jason Davidson Bradley University 1993 August Benassi Bradley University 1994 Dustin Abraham Arizona State University 1995 Andrew Greene California State University, Los Angeles 1996 Esther Austin California State University, Chico 1997 Eduardo Maytorena California State University, Los Angeles 1998 Sara Mayer University of Texas at Austin 1999 Jill Valentine Bradley University 2000 Paige White University of Alabama 2001 Ryan Knowles University of La Verne 2002 Javon Johnson California State University, Los Angeles 2003 Scott Boras University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2004 Tatiana Simonian California State University, Los Angeles 2005 Robert Hawkins San Francisco State University 2006 Ashley Brasfield Western Kentucky University 2007 Sonequa Martin University of Alabama 2008 Julia Kolsrud Arizona State University 2009 Nick Bateman George Mason University 2010 Amanda Voirol Bradley University 2011 Kane Kennedy James Madison University 2012 Kaybee Brown Lone Star College-North Harris 2013 Kaybee Brown Bradley University 2014 Robi Mahan Illinois State University 2015 Karlee Currin University of Nebraska Omaha 2016 Abigail Onwunali University of Texas at Austin 2017 Caleb Merritt Hastings College 2018 Marianna Garcia University of Texas at Austin 2019 Sarah Courville University of Texas at Austin 2021 Paige Allbright Western Kentucky University 2022 Emily Feazel Seton Hall University 2023 Kaylee Frazier University of Texas at Austin 2024 David Jacobson University of Minnesota Twin Cities 2025 Aaron Anderson Tennessee State University

Due to COVID-19, the 2020 tournament was canceled, resulting in no champion.

Past NFA Champions