Hereford County Drama festival
Market Theatre, Ledbury, Saturday 22 March, 6.30pm
The annual extravaganza will feature three exciting productions staged by Bromyard’s Conquest Theatre, Malvern Theatres Youth Theatre, and the Norbury Players from Droitwich. All participants are amateurs but work to exacting professional standards.
Comedy will be provided by the Conquest Theatre with scenes from Willy Russell’s Educating Rita and by the Norbury Players with White Lies by Richard James. Tragedy will be delivered by Malvern Theatres Youth Theatre with Let Him Have It by Paul King – the harrowing story of Derek Bentley, hanged in 1953 for a murder he did not commit.
Drama groups entering the festival do so by staging a one-act play. Alternatively, they may perform an extract from a full-length play, provided it is intelligible to the audience as a stand-alone work without additional written or spoken synopsis. All entries must involve at least two speaking characters and run for a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 55 minutes. Other forms of theatrical performance may also be considered.
The event is governed by the rules of the All-England Theatre Festival (AETF). Each performance is assessed by an independent adjudicator, and successful productions may be entered into subsequent AETF rounds.
The AETF English final will take place at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight, Merseyside, on 7 June. The British final will be held at the Garrick Theatre in Lichfield on 4–5 July. Tickets for the Hereford County Drama Festival cost £15.00. They are available from the Market Theatre’s box office website or telephone 07967 517125.
Information can also be found on the festival website, on the Hereford County Drama Festival Facebook page and on X/