The Wilmslow Festival of One Act Plays took place last week and saw a huge variety of plays from all over Cheshire and Manchester being performed at Wilmslow Guild over four nights.
"The festival is a competitive festival for plays no longer than forty five minutes," said Publicity Officer Bill Beton. "The standard has been very high this year, with a wide variety of challenging drama from groups throughout the area."
The festival is hosted by Wilmslow Guild Players and is affectionately referred to as "The Friendly Festival" by some of the participating societies, many of whom have been entering the festival for years.
The plays were judged by an independent adjudicator, John Powell, who gave a verbal adjudication at the end of each night. Awards were made on the Saturday night for Best Production (youth and senior) and Best Individual Performance (junior, youth and senior). There were also two discretionary awards, The Adjudicator's Award and the Syd Mence Cup for a Piece of Theatre Magic.
Barton Theatre Company took the award for Best Senior Production, for their extract from Macbeth. Ian McBride from Wilmslow Green Room Society was delighted to receive Best Senior Individual Performance, for "A Chip In The
Sugar": one of Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" monologues.
There was also much young talent at the festival this year with the two discretionary awards, The Adjudicator's Award and The Syd Mence Cup for as Piece of Theatre Magic, both going to youth societies.
The full results of the Wilmslow festival were as follows:
Best Junior Individual Performance
Ben Hughes as Dad in Ernie's Incredible Illucinations (ACTS)
Best Youth Production
Cheshire Academy of Performing Arts: The Necklace by Tony Best
Best Youth Individual Performance
Sophie Diss as Simone in The Pen Of My Aunt (Wilmslow Guild Players)
Best Senior Production
Barton Theatre Company: An Extract from MacBeth by William Shakespeare
Best Senior Individual Performance
Ian McBride as Man in A Chip In The Sugar (Wilmslow Green Room Society)
Adjudicator's Award
Awarded to the young people involved in The Worker (ACTS)
The Syd Mence Cup for a Piece of Theatre Magic Awarded to the company of Cheshire Academy of Performing Arts for the scene in The Necklace where they measured Mathilde for her ball gown.
For further details about the festival visit the Wilmslow Guild Players.
Photo: Wilmslow Guild Players in rehearsal for "The Pen Of My Aunt".
