The 2019 Waltham Forest Festival of Theatre
Thursday 28th to Saturday 30th March 2019
Adjudicator: Keith Thompson GODA.
Venue: Forest Community Centre, Walthamstow
2019 award winners
Festival Award for Best Team
Winner: Tiger Productions (Jesus, My Boy)
Festival Award for Second Team
Winner: Bawds (Cambridge) (Killing Him Softly)
Romeril Award for Third Team (in memory of Phyl and Eric Romeril)
Winner: Woodhouse Players (Bull)
Roy Seammen Award for Adjudicator's Selection
Drama Workshop (the scenery pieces in Parliament Square)
Festival Award for Best Performance by an Actress
Winner: Sarah Flanagan (Woodhouse Players)
Also nominated:
Melissa Quinn (Drama Workshop)
Jennifer Gillin (Wadham Players)
Festival Award for Best Performance by an Actor
Winner: Adam Dryer (Tiger Productions)
Also nominated:
Tom Cannon (Woodhouse Players)
Festival Award for Best Stage Presentation of a play in the Adult Section
Winner: Woodhouse Players (Bull)
Also nominated:
Bawds (Cambridge) (Killing Him Softly)
Tiger Productions (Jesus, My Boy)
Vi Gostling New Writing Award
Sean Baker (Bawds (Cambridge)) Killing Him Softly
Wanstead Players Pat Dancer Award for Best Supporting Player
Winner: Andy Dunne (Bawds (Cambridge))
Also nominated:
Mark Simons (Wadham Players)
Dick Williams Award for Comedy
Winner: Bawds (Cambridge) (Killing Him Softly)
Also nominated:
Wadham Players (Parcel)
ASD Theatre Company (A Concise (and almost precise) Theatrical History)
Chris Levoir Best Stage Crew Award
Tiger Productions (Jesus, My Boy)
Festival Award for Best Team in the Youth Section
ASD Theatre Company (A Concise (and almost precise) Theatrical History)
Wadham Players Award for Second Team in the Youth Section
Waltham Forest Youth Theatre (Rabbit)
CADOS Award for Most Promising Performer 18 and Under
Winner: Luke Wright (Little Actors Theatre Company's Youth Theatre)
Also nominated:
Abigail Norris (ASD Theatre Company - Camp Empowerment)
Rose Gillman (Waltham Forest Youth Theatre)
Marcia Lee Award for Best Stage Presentation in the Youth Section
Winner: Waltham Forest Youth Theatre (Rabbit)
This year's plays
Click on the names of companies and titles of plays for more details
Thursday 28 March 7.30pm
Woodhouse Players present Bull
A dark comedy by Mike Bartlett Unsuitable for children
Bawds (Cambridge) present Killing Him Softly
An original comedy by Sean Baker New Play Unsuitable for children
Drama Workshop present Parliament Square (Act 1) by James Fritz Unsuitable for children
Friday 29 March 7.30pm
Little Actors Theatre Company’s Youth Theatre present Wastershire
An original comedy/drama devised by the players New Play
Wadham Players present Parcel
A comedy/drama by David Campton
Tiger Productions present Jesus, My Boy
A comedy/drama by John Dowie
Saturday 30 March 7pm
ASD Theatre Company present Camp Empowerment
An original drama by Lucy Ashton New Play
Waltham Forest Youth Theatre present Rabbit
A drama by David Foxton
ASD Theatre Company present A Concise (and almost precise) Theatrical History
An original comedy by Lucy Ashton New Play
On Saturday after the third play there will be a short interval, followed by the announcement of prizewinners by the Adjudicator.
This year's Adjudicator
After the final performance each evening the Festival Adjudicator, Keith Thompson GoDA, will give a critical appraisal of each play to aid performers’ learning and encourage their improvement.
Keith's involvement in amateur drama started as a 13 year old in a London boys' school with a performance as Lucy, the maid in Sheridan's The Rivals. After several years in youth drama and local groups he joined the Barn Theatre in Hertfordshire in 1964, having moved there after getting married. He has acted and directed with this group for over 50 years, including drama festivals in England, Scotland and Wales, and he has played many times at the Minack open air theatre in Cornwall. He has just one festival success as a director, at the Felixstowe full length festival, but as an actor he has played in winning teams at the All England Final and on several occasions in plays placed first at the NDFA All Winners Final. He was awarded Best Actor at the Buxton Festival for his portrayal of Norman in The Dresser.
Keith has served on the National Committee of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain, an organisation that has just over a hundred members, and serves non-professional drama groups who own their premises and theatres. He has been a member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators for over ten years and has adjudicated at festivals in England, Scotland and Ireland. In recent years he has worked at festivals in Hertfordshire and Edinburgh, and in Eire he has adjudicated at Ballyshannon, and in Ulster previously at Portadown and at the the Courtyard Theatre and the Mill Theatre in Newtownabbey. He is delighted to be at Waltham Forest again.
Venue details
Forest Community Centre,
Guildford Road, Walthamstow,
London, E17 4EA
Overground: Highams Park
Buses: 216 or W19 to Wadham Road, 275 to Southend Road or Wadham Road
Festival Organisers
The Festival Organisers
Festival Secretary – Elaine Elliott
Stage Director – Doreen Friend
Stage Assistant – Mark Simons
Technical Director – Liz Wheatley assisted by David Mason
Front of House – Michael Michael
Website and Programme – Basil Clarke
Special thanks to
Terry Perkins
Members of Drama Workshop
Front of House volunteers
Master of Ceremonies – Stephen Jacobs OBE