Wilmslow Guild Players will be hosting their annual Festival of One Act Plays later this month, which has now been running for over seventy years.
The festival will see many varied short plays, lasting around 45 minutes, presented by groups from all over Cheshire and Manchester - some of which are written especially for the festival.
Publicity Officer Bill Beton said "We have eight plays in the festival this year, from seven different societies. This year there has been a stronger bias towards dramas rather than comedies, with some challenging plays such as an Alan Bennett monologue and an excerpt from Macbeth."
Entries in the festival come from Cheshire Academy of Performing Arts, Barton Theatre Company, Wilmslow Green Room, Knutsford Little Theatre, ACTS, The Whitehead School of Dance and Drama and an entry from the festival hosts, Wilmslow Guild Players.
The festival runs from Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 26th May, with different plays being presented each night. The plays are watched by independent adjudicator John Powell, who gives a verbal adjudication at the end of each night. John has been a friend of the Wilmslow Guild Players for many years, and is also chairman of the Cheshire Theatre Guild.
Awards are made on the Saturday night for Best Production (junior, youth and senior) and Best Individual Performance (junior, youth and senior). There are also two discretionary awards: The Adjudicator's Award and the Syd Mence Cup for a Piece of Theatre Magic.
The festival is affectionately referred to as "The Friendly Festival" by some of the participating societies, many of whom have been entering for years.
Over the years it has seen some famous feet tread the boards, such as Doris Speed (of Coronation Street fame); local author Alan Garner and Albert Finney, now an established international star of stage and screen.
The festival is open to the public, with tickets costing £3 for each night. Tickets can be booked by calling 01625 520126 or emailing [email protected]. A full running order is on the Wilmslow Guild Players website.
Photo caption: A previous festival play: "White Lies" by Wilmslow Guild Players.
