7-9 May 2009
Want to go straight to the list of winners in Swansea? The photogallery of the evening is now available.
The GDL's One-Act Play Festival returned to what has become our familiar home for the One-acts: The Dylan Thomas Theatre, hosted by Swansea Little Theatre. We've come to know exactly what awaits us and SLT's usual skills, facilities and most helpful of technical and stage teams were indeed on hand, as they welcomed us back for another year.
It's not easy to find a new venue, and although it had originally been the intention to move the festival around from year to year, Swansea seems to have proven itself a natural home to the event for now. The GDL committee took the decision to come to Swansea each year for the event, and remain in Cardiff (or at least the east side of the former Glamorgan) for the Glammies gala night each year, thereby alternating between the two ends of the region for the League's two main events.
GDL Chair Teri McCarthy, with a couple of festivals under her belt now, once again pulled everything together with panache, building on her successes from previous years. Her team of GDL helpers once again lent their support with box office, raffle, publicity etc. Thanks, as ever, to George Smith, John Minkes, Lon David and Ben Wheeler and the Swansea Box Office crew for all their help in these areas, and to Suzy Stacey who was unable to be as around as much as usual during the preparations due to ill-health, but who we were delighted to see was able to join us at the festival itself. Thanks too to Swansea Little Theatre for their support of the festival, and to Suzanne Kibble who found substantial financial support for the festival from the Swansea Welsh Church Act Fund - to whom we give our grateful thanks.
We enjoyed, yet again, the usual sterling support from all the technical, FOH and bar crew at Swansea Little Theatre, led by the ever-smiling Ben Wheeler.
We had hoped for a 4-night festival this year, but sadly it was not to be. Nevertheless, it was a sound festival with all 8 productions from GDL member companies - as has become the norm now, as we no longer accept entries from outside the GDL. The houses were smaller than in previous years, but we were full on the last night, helped by the supporters of the large youth group STARS Performing Arts, and all the shows were given a warm reception. On the last night, The Unknown Theatre Company, from Cardiff, also provided some musical entertainment with songs from their recent musical production while GODA Adjudicator Ian Sarginson totted up the marks not only for the evening, but for the whole of the Welsh round.
Three adult companies and three youth companies (The Unknown Theatre Company and Bridgend Castle Players both performed 2 plays each) brought a varied programme, which illustrated the diversity and confidence still so clearly to be found in amateur theatre in this part of Wales. Alongside the more regularly-seen gentle comedy of Bridgend's None the Wiser, we had adaptations of classics: Graham J Evans's stunning and hilarious adaptation of Moliere (A Doctor by Persuasion) and Nerys Jones's quirky Beckham-themed take on Macbeth; moving and reflective work from The Dylan Thomas Youth Academy (I Never Saw Another Butterfly), The Unknown Theatre (Surfing, Carmarthen Bay) and Bridgend Castle Players's One-Sided Triangle; new writing from Telstars Theatre Company with Jo West's production of her own absurdist play The Big World of Little Don Carlos; and the embracing of the very contemporary and challenging writing of Gary Owen's Ghost City from The Unknown Theatre Company.
Full details of the winners are listed below.
It is encouraging to see how companies who were barely, if at all, part of this festival five years ago, are now regular features at the event alongside the 'old-hands' who, thankfully, continue to support the festival. It is a great pleasure, particularly, to see the youth companies gaining in experience from participating each year, with their productions becoming stronger, and their choices bolder. Bodes well for the future!
The GODA adjudicator, Ian Sarginson, was new to all of us this year, and was a great success. His adjudications were felt to be firm but fair, and the companies enjoyed and appreciated his post-adjudication sessions.
The final night of the festival was the final night of the entire Welsh regional competition, and this added to the bigger than usual audience, with representatives from companies all over Wales present to find out if their show had made it through. The productions with the top six marks within Wales were then invited to perform at the Welsh One-Act Play final which was held in The Torch Theatre in Milford Haven on 5th & 6th June.
Last year, only one production originating from the GDL round made it through to the Welsh final, but this year, we made it with two: with both present to hear the announcement of their inclusion in the final, since they were present for the awards anyway! This year, it was Players' Theatre with the Moliere, and The Unknown Theatre Company's Ghost City that made it through (unusual for a youth company to make it through to the final). Both gave of their best, but in the end it was Milford Haven's New Tabs Players with But Yesterday which went on to represent Wales at the British Final in Enniskillen on 3rd and 4th July, chosen by GODA adjudicator Chris Jaeger.
The Wales One-Act finalists this year were :
FRIDAY
| 1. Blackwood Little Theatre | Love Is... | |
| 2. New 'Tabs' Theatre | But Yesterday | |
| 3. Tenby Players | The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish |
SATURDAY
| 1. Blackwood Little Theatre | Next to Godliness | |
| 2. The Unknown Theatre Company | Ghost City | |
| 3. The Players' Theatre | A Doctor by Persuasion |
The finalists for the British Final were
| New Tabs Theatre (Wales) | But Yesterday | Jimmie Chinn |
| Total Arts Community Theatre (England) | Moll Flanders | Peter Machen |
| Kirkton Players (Scotland) | Two | Jim Cartwright |
| The Clarence Players (Belfast) (NI) | A Little Something For The Ducks | Jean Lennox Toddie |
The eventual winner of the British final was Scotland's entry from Kirkton Players, Two by Jim Cartwright. The Adjudicator was Walker Ewart GODA.
Winners at the 2009 GDL Festival were:
name of award |
winner |
production |
group |
Glamorgan County Cup for the Glamorgan Drama League adult production to attain the highest marks in the competition |
The Company | A Doctor by Persuasion by Moliere adapted by Graham J Evans | The Players Theatre |
| Bob McTurk Memorial Trophy for Best Director | Gareth Gibbs | A Doctor by Persuasion by Moliere adapted by Graham J Evans | The Players Theatre |
Best Individual Performance Award |
Melissa Moore as the Would-be Novelist | Ghost City by Gary Owen | The Unknown Theatre Company |
The Bea Wells Memorial Trophy for the Best Comedy Performance |
Jonathan James as Sganarelle | A Doctor by Persuasion by Moliere adapted by Graham J Evans | The Players Theatre |
Youth Trophy Glamorgan Drama League Youth production to attain the highest marks in the competition - donated by Mari Major |
The Company | Ghost City by Gary Owen | The Unknown Theatre Company |
The Jean Howell Trophy Adjudicator's Award |
Graham J Evans | for his new adaptation of Moliere's play, A Doctor by Persuasion | The Players Theatre |
Entries for the 2009 Festival came from:
| Company | Play |
details |
|
||
Telstars Theatre Company |
The Big World of Little Don Carlos |
a black comedy by Jo West |
The Unknown Theatre Company |
Ghost City |
a drama by Gary Owen |
The Players Theatre |
A Doctor by Persuasion |
a comedy by Moliere |
|
||
Bridgend Castle Players |
One-Sided Triangle |
a play by Stephen Smith |
The Unknown Theatre Company |
Surfing, Carmarthen Bay |
a drama by Roger Williams |
Bridgend Castle Players |
None the Wiser |
a comedy by Anthony Booth |
|
||
STARS Performing Arts |
Macbeth, Rise to the STARS |
a play by Shakespeare adapted by Nerys Jones |
The Dylan Thomas Youth Academy |
I Never Saw Another Butterfly |
a drama by Celeste Raspanti |
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