British Drama League

All-England Theatre Festival
All-England Theatre Festival Logo
Location(s)	Location of participating festivals varies
Foundation	1947
Date(s)	Final - June
Type of play(s)	One Act Plays
Website

The All-England Theatre Festival ("AETF") organises the only country-wide eliminating contest for one-act plays in performance throughout England. It provides an opportunity for Amateurs to compete against like-minded groups and to benefit from the adjudication they receive to improve the quality of their performance. The AETF also maintains contact with other leading bodies involved in Amateur Dramatics throughout the United Kingdom by means of its membership of the Central Council for Amateur Theatre, The Drama Festivals Consortium and the British Finals Standing Committee. The festival is also involved with the Geoffrey Whitworth Trophy Competition, in conjunction with the other 'Hosts' of the British Festival, to judge Original, unpublished Scripts that are first produced within the relevant Festivals.

The history of the All-England Theatre Festival dates back to 1919 when the British Drama League was formed. The public inauguration of the League took place at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket on 22 June and was said by the first director of the League, Mr. Geoffrey Whitworth, that "Drama was par excellence the art of the people, and the Theatre everyone's business". There was a wide range of individuals on the first committee. The Drama League was in essence an association composed of individual co-operators in amateur drama and affiliated amateur dramatic groups. It was very active in the pursuit of the creation of a National Theatre. One of the main planks of the Drama League was its Education platform. This evolved into a strong commitment to new writing and eventually the establishment of competitive Festivals. It provided a central organisation for amateur societies throughout England (despite the name "British"), it conducted drama schools and ran a drama library. By June 1923 there were 360 affiliated societies which included amateur and professional bodies. In 1926 professionals were expressing concern that the rapid growth of amateur drama was likely to cause problems with too many people trying to enter an already overcrowded profession. A Council Meeting was held to discuss this and in 1927 it was noted that the League's monthly journal 'Drama' was selling 3000 copies. This interest had started a British 'Festival of Community Drama' which was used to find an entry for the American New York Little Theatre Tournament. Other aspects of the League's work included the making of a substantial contribution to the Stratford-on-Avon Memorial Theatre, visits to Europe to help establish Festivals and the organisation of summer schools.