Following a glorious week of drama, the winners of the 88th Welwyn Drama Festival were crowned.

The Welwyn Drama Festival finished in style last Saturday (May 27) at the Barn Theatre in Welwyn Garden City. 

With the awards presented to the winners by the new Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Councillor Pankit Shah, accompanied by his Mayoress Mrs Vaishali Shah, this annual festival of competitive drama was deemed a great success by its full-house audiences.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Winners of the 2023 Welwyn Drama Festival at the Barn Theatre in Welwyn Garden City with new Welwyn Hatfield Mayor, Cllr Pankit Shah.Winners of the 2023 Welwyn Drama Festival at the Barn Theatre in Welwyn Garden City with new Welwyn Hatfield Mayor, Cllr Pankit Shah. (Image: Steve Onyon)

After a week which began with a Monday evening of live performances of West End musicals from Royston's Limitless Academy, there were then 11 one-act plays from teams from various parts of the UK battling for the various trophies.

After some excellent analysis by GoDA adjudicator Tristan Marshall, the worthy winner of the coveted Welwyn Cup was announced as Total Arts Community Theatre from Tamworth in Staffordshire with their performance of A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain by Sami Ibrahim. 

This team also won the Charles Pilgrem Trophy for Stage Presentation, and their director was awarded the Behrens-Steinfeld Trophy for Imaginative Direction, and the Winifred Butler Award for Best Actress.

The Derrick Baldock Cup for the Best Unpublished Play, went to Potholes: The Modern Menace.

Its author, Pete Jeary, also won the Welwyn Award for the Best Actor, and the FJ Osborn Audience Appreciation Award.

For more on the Welwyn Drama Festival, visit welwyndramafestival.com

 

                                                                                                                                

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