Drama festival hopefuls take to the stage
Performers will be taking to the stage at Maidenhead Drama Festival next week in the hope of making it through to the next round of a major countrywide arts competition.
Maidenhead Drama Festival serves as the first round of the All England Theatre Festival (AETF) and will see a mixture of schools, youth groups and adult drama groups perform one-act plays from 7.30pm on Thursday, March 21, Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23 at Norden Farm.
Following the culmination of performances on Saturday a host of prizes will be given and the top adult and youth groups will go through to the Eastern Area Final which will be held at the Barn Theatre in Oxted.
The theatre festival will culminate in the Grand English Final which will take place at Norden Farm on Saturday, June 8 and will see the four area champions battle it out for the top prize.
Carol Hennessy, chair of Maidenhead Drama Festival, said: “Everybody that’s entering puts on a one-act play – anything between 20 minutes and 55 minutes long.
“It can be about anything. Any published play, any new play that someone has written.”
A total of eight plays, from groups including Maidenhead Drama Guild and the Bishopstoke Players will be taking place, with three performances on Thursday and Friday, and two performances on Saturday next week.
Various accolades will be handed out on the Saturday, including prizes for best unpublished play and the Maidenhead Advertiser Trophy will be the first prize in the competition.
This year marks 76 years since the Maidenhead
Drama Festival first took place.
Carol added: “My dream is to have wonderful audiences.
“These actors have all done a heck of a lot of work and I really really would like to see great audiences there to appreciate what they are doing.
“My aim is to get a couple of good winners to take things forward.
“The main of this is always to promote drama and encourage drama and theatre.”
She added: “This year we are both the start and the end [of the festival].”
This year’s full programme is as follows: Thursday, March 21: W Grimm Tales: Rapunzel & Little Red Riding Hood by The Young Theatre
W Grimm Tales: The
Three Little Men in the Woods by The Young Theatre
W You and Me by the Bishopstoke Players
Friday, March 22:
W The Terrible, Terrible Past by LCA Stage Academy W Se7en by Momenta W Quadrille by Maidenhead Drama Guild
Saturday, March 23: W Woyzeck by Woking College
W To Know When My Time Will Come by Runnymede Drama Group.
Tickets are 12 (£10 concessions) and can be purchased from the Norden Farm box office through 01628 788997.
For more information, visit: https://www.maidenhead-drama-festival.co.uk/