Lorn Drama Festival
The 21st Lorn Drama Festival brings to Oban’s Corran Halls next week The Vikings and A Stormy Night for the UN who are stuck in Connel.
The Lorn Drama Festival is an annual festival for one-act plays and is open to any amateur group, including schools and junior drama clubs. It draws on dramatic talent from all over Argyll, from Campbeltown to Taynuilt and this year has a really encouraging number of junior teams.
Benderloch Juniors are presenting two plays, both devised by the actors: A Stormy Night is a satirical piece based on the idea that several world leaders find themselves stranded in Connel after an unscheduled stopover on the way back from a meeting. The second is a magical adventure story which unfolds after a group of children discover a book of spells. Other youth plays are My Space, Our Place devised and written by the cast and performed by Taynuilt and District Drama Society Junior section which was inspired by 2018 being the Year of the Young Person, and The Nightingales, a dramatic interpretation of a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, performed by Argyll Youth Theatre, who make a welcome return to the festival this year.
Lochnell Primary School are presenting The Vikings, which tells the story through drama and song of a group of Vikings who invade the monastery on Lindisfarne and pillage whatever they can from the monks there. They return home to their women and children and then all gather round to listen to a saga, complete with Gods and a giant. The cast is made up entirely of primary three and four children, who have made their own props and costumes.
The adult teams are presenting an interesting variety of plays, Seil Drama Club return with A Mystery Tour by Colin Calvert.
The ladies of a flower arranging group are on an outing to a castle but events take several dramatic changes.
Casualties is an original script by Ken Sutherland, set in Oban just after the Second World War, and will be performed by Taynuilt adults, and Accent Players from Campbeltown are presenting A Dummy Run, a comedy by Robin Wilson.
Benderloch Drama Club are entering two teams. Stream, River, Sea is a bittersweet story of bereavement and was written by the same author as Goldfish Girl, Pandemonium and That’s Mine, This is Yours, which Benderloch have performed at previous festivals.
The second play, Mary, Mary is a farce of mistaken identity featuring three characters called Mary. Coincidentally, this play was written by this year’s adjudicator, Bruce Adam.
Bruce has been teaching and lecturing in drama, acting and performance and English for many years. As well as being a committee member of the Scottish Association of Speech and Drama adjudicators, he is also an examiner in drama for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. He has had an extremely wide and varied experience and continues to enjoy what only can be described as an eclectic involvement in theatre, directing and performing in everything from Shakespeare to panto and from musical theatre to street theatre.
This year there will be a new award for the best original script, written by the clubs and in its first production. It is hoped that this award will encourage clubs and local writers to produce interesting and original work for the festival.
So go along to the Corran Halls and enjoy a great evening’s entertainment, and give your support to the teams, young and old, who have worked so hard to put on their plays.
The 2018 festival will run from Wednesday March 14 to Friday March 16 in the Corran Halls, with each night starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at £6 (£5 concession), and £15/£12 for all three nights.
Wednesday sees the Taynuilt and District Drama Society Adults team perform with Benderloch Junior B and Adults A, while Thursday sees Lochnell Primary, Argyll Youth Theatre, Seil Drama Group, and Benderloch Adults B. Taking to the stage on Friday are Taynuilt and District Drama Society Juniors, Benderloch Juniors A, and Accent. Prizes are awarded by the adjudicator on the Friday night.