Six nights of drama concluded at a Welwyn Garden City theatre with a special awards presentation.
The 79th Welwyn Garden City Youth Drama Festival came to a triumphant conclusion on the evening of Saturday, March 11 at the Barn Theatre, with a team from Chancellor's School winning one of the trophies.
The Brookmans Park secondary school bagged first place in the junior section – taking home the Elizabeth Cory-Wright Cup – for its production of Agatha Twisty and the Murder in Pantoland by Warren McWilliams.
The senior first prize went to St Christopher School with The Last Post.
There's another chance to see the Letchworth school on May 22, when St Christopher will hopefully open this year's Welwyn Drama Festival with their winning production.
They are also eligible to be invited to the National Drama Festivals Association’s annual Festival of winners at the Albany Theatre in Coventry from July 20-23.
The Barn auditorium was packed to bursting for the awards ceremony and many more had overspilled into the clubroom where proceedings were beamed to a screen in the bar area.
As the audio boomed out the strains of Van Halen’s 'Jump', the curtains opened to reveal a “hillside” dotted with the cuddly hares, each embracing one of the awards.
Another hare, attached to a rope, dropped from the stage ceiling and bounced in time to the music.
Festival chairman Michael Merry jumped up to welcome the audience and teams and to introduce the GoDA Adjudicator, Tristan Marshall, for the final time.
Tristan opened by enthusing about the great variety of incredible drama that had been seen all week and how fast the festival had seemed to fly by.
But before announcing any awards, Tristan remarked how fortunate the young people were to have, what he described as “this wonderful beacon” in the area, enabling them to practise and hone their stagecraft in a real theatre with an attentive audience.
He explained that around the country many festivals were closing due to a combination of lack of entries and lack of volunteers to organise them.
He fervently hoped that the annual WGC festival would continue to draw performers and audiences for many more years to come and, to that end, he appealed to everyone present to seriously consider stepping up and offering to help with the future organisation.
By and large, the administrative torch was carried by the older generation and there was a desperate need for young blood to step up and pitch in.
Turning back to this year, Tristan observed that a common theme throughout the entire 2023 festival had been ensemble work, stressing how wonderful it had been to see teams working together.
“It takes great humility to play lots of small parts”, he said, “but that is what makes the difference between a great play and a really superb play”.
Tristan also referred to another watchpoint that came up several times during the week and related to actors wearing hats.
“If you’re going to wear a hat on stage, hold your head up. The last thing we want is shadows all across your face!”
AWARD WINNERS
SENIOR WINNERS
1st – Youth Committee Cup
- St Christopher School, Letchworth - The Last Post by Connor Vincent, directed by Emma Roskilly and Connor Vincent.
- Bluebell Muir earned a medal for what Tristan described as comedy gold playing Tracy.
2nd – Nero’s Cup
- Senior Archer Players, London - 100 by Diene Petterle, Neil Monaghan & Christopher Heimann, directed by Anja Rodford.
• For the minimalist approach in production – showing how it can be done with a singular costume idea, an orange, some sticks and a guitar, Anja also collected a medal.
3rd – Annand Cup
- St Albans High School for Girls - The Flood by Lucy Forster, directed by Holly Whymark.
- Holly also scooped The Adjudicator’s Award.
JUNIOR WINNERS
1st – Elizabeth Cory-Wright Cup
- Chancellor's School, Brookmans Park - Agatha Twisty and the Murder in Pantoland by Warren McWilliams, directed by Sophie Martin.
2nd – Hinton Cup
- St Christopher School, Letchworth - Heritage by Dafydd Jones, directed by Sue Scott Davison.
• Sue also collected a medal on behalf of her cast for the teamwork that saw them escape from the panic of a forgotten line during the Ouija board scene.
3rd – Louis Davis Cup
- Junior Archer Players, London - Caesar (abridged version of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare), directed by Mark Carter.
Technical Award - Ball England Cup
- Ruth Burton, director, Limitless Academy of Performing Arts, Royston, for Bassett by James Graham.
• A medal also went to Evan Johnson for his chilling portrayal of Leo.
Other medals went to:
• Charlotte McDermott, author and director of St Francis’ College’s Jane Eyre’s Diary.
• Katherine Rowe, director of Beaumont School Junior Drama Company’s Like There’s No Tomorrow.
• Emma Brazil, Queen Jezebella in Chancellor’s School’s Agatha Twisty & The Murder in Pantoland.
• Emeka Alozie, Long John Silver in St Albans Middle School Drama Club’s Treasure Island.
• Poppy Moroz, director of Nicholas Breakspear’s Once Upon A Time.
• Delilah Facey, a Little Star in Stagecall Community Arts’ Millionaire.
If you would be interested in helping with the 80th WGC Youth Drama Festival in March 2024, the team would love to hear from you. Planning starts in early September. Please drop an email to secretary@wgcydf.org.
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