The 2022 Waltham Forest Festival of Theatre
Week ending Saturday 26th March 2022
Adjudicator: Keith Thompson GODA.
Forest Community Centre, Guildford Road, Walthamstow E17 4EA
Festival award winners
Festival Award for Best Team
Wadham Players - A Night Out
Festival Award for Second Team
Limitless Academy - Brook for Nothing
Romeril Award for Third Team (in memory of Phyl and Eric Romeril)
Woodhouse Players - The Chain
Roy Seammen Award for Adjudicator's Selection
Winner Drama Workshop - Ultimate Destination
Also nominated: The Song and Dance Routine in Brook for Nothing
Festival Award for Best Performance by an Actress
Winner: Jennifer Gillin as The Girl in A Night Out (Wadham Players)
Also nominated:
Lyla Robb as Lizzie in A Memory of Lizzie (W F Youth Theatre)
Liz Wheatley as Lauren Semple in Going Home (Drama Workshop)
Festival Award for Best Performance by an Actor
Winner: Andy Dunne as The Wolf in Red Riding Hood (Twisted Willow)
Also nominated:
Will Muir as Brook in Brook for Nothing (Limitless Academy)
Mark Simons as Albert in A Night Out (Wadham Players)
Festival Award for Best Stage Presentation of a play in the Adult Section
Winner: Woodhouse Players - The Chain
Also nominated:
Limitless Academy - Brook for Nothing
Wadham Players - A Night Out
Vi Gostling New Writing Award
Winner: Paul Adam Levy - Brook for Nothing
Also Nominated
Lauren Upton - Red Riding Hood
Vanessa Cutts - The Chain
Ian Reed-Goolden - Fruit of the Dark Orchard
Wanstead Players Pat Dancer Award for Best Supporting Player
Winner: Roisin O'Shea as Scorpion in Brook for Nothing (Limitless Academy)
Also Nominated
Melissa Quinn as Sue in Ultimate Destination (Drama Workshop)
Jay Thomas as Paladin in Brook for Nothing (Limitless Academy)
Kyle Goold as Faginator in Brook for Nothing (Limitless Academy)
Scott Clark as Seeley in A Night Out (Wadham Players)
Stephen Balchin as Kedge in A Night Out (Wadham Players)
Katie Davies as Susanna in Fruit of the Dark Orchard (Woodhouse Players)
Dick Williams Award for Comedy
Woodhouse Players - Fruit of the Dark Orchard
Chris Levoir Best Stage Crew Award
Twisted Willow Theatre - Red Riding Hood
Festival Award for Best Team in the Youth Section
Waltham Forest Youth Theatre - A Memory of Lizzie
Wadham Players Award for Second Team in the Youth Section
(Not awarded)
CADOS Award for Most Promising Performer 18 and Under
Lyla Robb as Lizzie in A Memory of Lizzie (Waltham Forest Youth Theatre)
Marcia Lee Award for Best Stage Presentation in the Youth Section
A Memory of Lizzie - Waltham Forest Youth Theatre
This year's plays
Click on the names of companies and titles of plays for more details
Thursday 24 March 7.30pm
Drama Workshop present Ultimate Destination
An original thriller by Jacqueline McCauley New Play
Limitless Academy of Performing Arts present Brook for Nothing
An original comedy by Paul Adam Levy New Play
Twisted Willow Theatre present Red Riding Hood
An original drama by Lauren Upton New Play
Friday 25 March 7.30pm
Waltham Forest Youth Theatre present A Memory of Lizzie
A drama by David Foxton
Drama Workshop present Going Home
A comedy by Neil Simon
Wadham Players present A Night Out
A drama by Harold Pinter
Saturday 26 March 7pm
Woodhouse Players present Fruit of the Dark Orchard
An original comedy/drama by Ian Reed-Golden New Play
Woodhouse Players present The Chain
An original black comedy by Vanessa Cutts New Play
On Saturday after the second 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 Managers – Doreen Friend, Mark Simons
Technical Director – Liz Wheatley assisted by Ian Chandler
Front of House – Michael Michael
Website and Programme – Basil Clarke
Special thanks to
Colin Bootle
Mark West
Members of Drama Workshop
Front of House volunteers
Master of Ceremonies – Stephen Jacobs OBE