Over the past 30 years, UMD Theatre has been selected 12 times to present at the KCACTF Regionals and has been chosen five times to perform at the National Festival held at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. As of 2011, productions no longer compete at the National Festival level.
One River was written as part of the One River, Many Stories project, a storytelling initiative that took place in communities along the St. Louis River corridor in April 2016. The project was funded in part by the Knight Foundation Fund of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.
A potential second round of the project is in the running for a Knight Communities Challenge grant. Earlier this month, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced three Duluth projects were among the 144 finalists chosen from more than 4,500 applications. Roughly 35 grant winners will receive a share of up to $5 million. The winners will be announced at the end of March.