High praise for North Lorn Drama Festival
BENDERLOCH and North Connel Drama Club all but swept the boards at this year’s North Lorn Drama Festival, but there was special mention for one of their junior members.
Fifteen-year-old Calum McLuckie, from Benderloch, devised and wrote the winning youth play, One Stormy Night, which plots the calamitous meeting of world leaders when they are forced into emergency landings at Oban Airport.
Calum also played Vladimir Putin opposite his younger brother, Finlay, who, as Donald Trump, won the Rab MacDonald Memorial Trophy for A Moment in Comedy.
Benderloch and North Connel Drama Club took home another six of the 11 winners and runners-up prizes on offer: the B team won the adult section trophy for Stream, River, Sea, beating the club’s A team into second place; the junior B team won the special endeavour award and the production award for Grandfather’s Book; Bethany Dunlop won the adjudicator’s award for the youth and primary section; and Linda Robb won the adult’s prize.
Adjudicator Paul Dougall said: ‘The youth sections were very impressive and the winning piece, written by young Calum, at any level was very funny and extremely observant of famous political characters.
‘The standard of acting throughout the primary and youth sections was excellent and at least on a par with anything I have seen at other festivals.’
The festival, held in Appin Village Hall, hosted eight plays across three nights between Wednesday and Friday last week.
Strath of Appin Primary School won their age group with Appin Acting Academy, which featured 20 cast members.
Taynuilt and District Dramatic Society Youth were runners-up in the youth section, while the society’s adult team won silverware through Andrew Gray’s award for A Moment in Theatre.