900 students from over 400 colleges and universities are gearing up for this year's Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, a year round project that will hold 8 regional festivals in January, February and March 1997.

Regional festivals showcase productions entered by each region into the festival, as well as offering workshops, symposia and award programs. Judges this year include playwrights Judi Ann Mason and Philip Atlakson, and drama professor Andrew Gibbs.

Winning productions will participate in the 29th annual, "non-competitive" showcase at the Kennedy Center, April 14-22, 1997. Kennedy Center President Lawrence J. Wilker is quoted as saying, "The...Festival celebrates the depth and breadth of talent that exists on our university and college campuses. It strives to represent all institutions with theatre progreams, all cultures of students and audiences, and all types of theatre production and literature."

Here's the schedule for the KC/ACTF regionals:

Jan. 8-12: Vern Riffe Center, Columbus, OH. Jan. 15-19: Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA.

Jan. 22-26: University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA.

Jan. 29-Feb. 1: Brandeis University, Waltham, MA.

Feb. 5-9: Middle Tennesee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.

Feb. 12-16: Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT.

Feb. 19-23: Eastern Oregon State College, La Grande, OR.

Feb. 26-Mar. 2: University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.

Roger L. Stevens founded the KC/ACTF, and since its inception, more than 15 million theatregoers have attended over 8,000 festival productions nationwide. For more information on Regional Festival events, call the Kennedy Center's Education Dept. At (202) 416-8857.

-- By David Lefkowitz