Woking Drama Festival

Woking Drama Festival
Location(s) Woking
Foundation 1959
Founded by Woking Drama Association
Date(s) First two weeks of October
Type of play(s) One Act with Youth Section
Website

The Woking Drama Festival (WDA) is one of the largest drama competitions in the British Isles[1] for amateur dramatics focussing on one act plays with a dedicated Youth Section. It is notable not only for its size, but also for the quality of its leading performances, with the winner of the festival having gone onto win the British All Winners Festival on a number of occasions.

Foundation

The festival is one of the most enduring amateur festivals of its kind in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1959 and celebrating its 50th festival in 2008 (from 30 September 2008 to 11 October 2008).[1] The festival is organised by the Woking Drama Association. The first winning play was “Master Dudley by Philip Johnson, performed by the Pyrford Little Theatre.[2]

Woking Drama Association

The Woking Drama Association, or WDA, was founded to encourage and support the performing arts in Woking. As such, most of the leading local theatre and drama groups in the Surrey area belong to the WDA, as well as from further afield across the south of England. The WDA is also affiliated to many of the leading drama associations, particularly the National Drama Festivals Association. One of its primary aims is to present an annual drama festival in Woking every October. Outside of the annual drama festival, the WDA works as a focal point for local theatre groups and as a point of reference for directors looking for on-stage talent, backstage; props; costumes or set building.[3]

Rhoda McGaw Theatre

The festival is held in Woking, Surrey, in the Rhoda McGaw Theatre (within The Ambassadors, Peacock Centre). The theatre seats 228 in 9 rows of raked seating and has been reported to have excellent acoustics. The stage is flat, 58’ wide from wall to wall, with a 36’ curtain opening. From the main tabs it is 19’ back to the cyclorama and 8’ forward to the front of the stage. The theatre has also been used by the WDA to host the British All Winners Festival on those occasions when it has been invited to do so by the National Drama Festivals Association (the next time will be in July 2009).[1] This is an affiliated theatre of the New Victoria Theatre, a commercial touring house owned and run by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). The venue has a unique relationship with the local council, whereby the council handles all the administration for the theatre, with the staffing and technical facilities run by the ATG. The council hires the theatre for four weeks each year to present professional touring productions (mostly one person shows), with the rest programmed by the WDA and local dance and drama schools.[4]

Participating drama groups

Over the years the Woking Festival has grown to become "one of the largest drama competitions in the British Isles and certainly one of the most respected for its quality of performance".[1] In 2008 the WDA had 16 member groups. Some notable groups that are or have been members of the festival are:

Subsequent success at the British All Winners Festival

As a festival affiliated to the National Drama Festivals Association, winners from Woking can be invited to participate in the NDFA’s British All Winners Festival which they have done with some historical success. The winner from the Woking Drama Festival has gone on to win or attain the runner-up spot in the British All Winners Festival on a number of occasions:

Awards

There are a number of awards that are contested for at the festival. These awards are adjudged by the adjudicator of the festival, who is required to be a member of GODA.

Defunct awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Stewart Mison, Chairman of the Woking Drama Festival
  2. ↑ Woking Drama Festival website
  3. ↑ Woking Drama Association (WDA)
  4. ↑ Commissioning new work – A good practice guide for amateur theatre companies and playwrights - The Arts Council England
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