The Cumbria Drama Festival a preliminary round of the All England Theatre Festival Programme for 2017

Reg. Charity No. 1071518

The 2017 Festival - Saturday, March 25th, at the Victoria Hall, Grange-over-Sands

This year, much to our delight, we had four entries (eventually). This is too many for one session so we had to have two sessions of two plays each - one starting at 3 pm and one starting at 7 pm.

Ticket Prices for one session: Adults £7, OAPs £6, Under 18s £4.

Ticket Prices for two sessions: Adults £12, OAPs £10, Under 18s £6.

Plays Performed  

Saturday, March 25th, from 3.00 pm
Cosgood Players Who Do You Think You Are? by Kenneth Smyth Director: KENNETH SMYTH Stage Manager: JIM ROBSON
The play is set in the ealy 21st century. Harry McIlvoy has lived on his own since the late 1960s. He thinks he is the last surviving member of his family, until a stranger knocks on his door.
Cast:
Harry McIlvoy Sarah Jacobs	KENNETH SMYTH MICHELLE YATES
Gosforth Amateur Dramatic Society A Little Box of Oblivion by Stephen Bean Directors: BEN RAMSBOTTOM and LOIS FULKER Stage Manager: JIM POLMEAR
This absurd one act play features five characters. It is on a lovely Spring day in an urban park. "Cool" is sittingh with a on a bench reading a paper when "Woman" rushes on with a box which cannot be moved, knocked, tilted or opened. A series of motley characters begins to arrive, each with a theory about the contents. What is in the box and how will it end?
Cast
Cool Woman Neuro Doom	KAREN POLMEAR CAIA VAN DEN ELZEN ANDY WILLIMS JUDE WILDWOOD DAVID ROUNCE

Saturday, March 25th, from 7.00 pm
Cumbria Amateur Theatre Society (CATS) Blood on Canvas by Richard James Director: JENNY SCHOFIELD Stage Manager: RAY TURNER
The place: An artist's studio/gallery. The time: Day. Stella comes to see Maddie in an art gallery, A sinister sequence of events makes them both uneasy.
Cast:
Maddie Stella	LESLEY SKELTON KATH SMITH
Cockermouth Amateur Dramatic Society Being Norwegian by Davud Greig Director: NICK STANLEY Stage Manager: ANITA McCALL
Place: An apartment in a high rise block of flats in Glasgow. Time: The present day. Evening. Sean meets Lisa on a night out and invites her back to his flat. The night begins to unravel their dark secrets.
Cast
Lisa Sean	JACQUI WALKER IAN McCALL

The Adjudicator - Bev Clark, GoDA

Bev Clark trained at Guildhall and LAMDA and has been an adjudicator for GoDA for over five years. In tht time she has attended dozens of festivals around the UK as well as FEATS in Brussels.

She has worked professionally in theatres across England in a variety of roles but mainly as a youth theatre director. She now works as a theatre facilitator and writer, as well as still working part-time in her local theatre on Wirral.

In 2008 she formed Hand in Hand Theatre, a community group who have achieved much success at drama festivals and received critical acclaim for many of their productions. As a company they tour to museums and different theatre venues across the North West. They have produced three shows for RSC Openstages project and in August 2015 the company performed at the national showcase at Stratford upon Avon.

Bev has also directed at Theatre Fest 15 for Noda and has facilitated curses in Devised Theatre at Warwick University summer school and for independent amateur groups.

As a writer, Bev's play The Black Eyes won the Roister Doister International one-act play competition for young people in 2015 and last year it won Best Youth Play at Warwick One Act Festival. Liverpool's Royal Court Youth Theatre are planning a production later this year.

Her other one-act plays are published by www.scripts4stage.com. Hand in Hand Theatre's award winning RIP Mr Shakespeare is also published and was performed recently at the MADF one-act festival where it woon Best Youth Play along with four other awards.

Bev is soon to direct her one-act drama Baggage - a two hander about homelessness for Wirral Festival of Firsts and Wirral Libraries in July this year.

Trophies Awarded

The Elaine Richardson Trophy - for the winning company
Awarded to CATS

The South Lakeland District Council Trophy - for the best individual performance
Awarded to Ian McCall (Cockermouth ADS)

The Sir John Fisher Trophy - for the best actor under 21
Not awarded

The Lady Maria Fisher Trophy - for the best supporting role
Awarded to Jacqui Walker (Cockermouth ADS)

The Renaissance Theatre Trust Award - adjudicator’s discretionary award
Awarded to Jenny Schofield (CATS)

The Doreen Brockbank Trophy - for set decor
Awarded to CATS

The New Generation Trophy - an award for merit
Awarded to Gosforth ADS

The David Shipley Memorial Trophy - for backstage work
Awarded to the Cosgood Players

Subsequent Rounds of The All England Festival and British Final
North West Quarter-Final	No quarter-finals in Northern Area this year. Winners will pass directly to the Northen Semi-Final.
Northern Semi-Final	Venue: Saltburn Community Centre, Saltburn Date: May 6th/7th, 2017 Adjudicator: Robert Meadows, GoDA
English Final	Venue: The McMillan Theatre, Bridgewater Date: June 3rd, 2015 Adjudicator: Paul Fowler, GoDA
British Finals	Venue: Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast Date: July 7th/8th, 2015 Adjudicator: Walker Ewart, GoDA