Woking Drama Festival
| Woking Drama Festival | |
|---|---|
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| Location(s) | Woking |
| Foundation | 1959 |
| Founded by | Woking Drama Association |
| Date(s) | First two weeks of October |
| Type of play(s) | One Act with Youth Section |
| Website | |
The Woking Drama Festival (WDA) is one of the largest drama competitions in the British Isles for amateur dramatics focussing on one act plays with a dedicated Youth Section. It is notable not only for its size, but also for the quality of its leading performances, with the winner of the festival having gone onto win the British All Winners Festival on a number of occasions.
The festival is one of the most enduring amateur festivals of its kind in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1959 and celebrating its 50th festival in 2008 (from 30 September 2008 to 11 October 2008). The festival is organised by the Woking Drama Association. The first winning play was “Master Dudley by Philip Johnson, performed by the Pyrford Little Theatre.
The Woking Drama Association, or WDA, was founded to encourage and support the performing arts in Woking. As such, most of the leading local theatre and drama groups in the Surrey area belong to the WDA, as well as from further afield across the south of England. The WDA is also affiliated to many of the leading drama associations, particularly the National Drama Festivals Association. One of its primary aims is to present an annual drama festival in Woking every October. Outside of the annual drama festival, the WDA works as a focal point for local theatre groups and as a point of reference for directors looking for on-stage talent, backstage; props; costumes or set building.
The festival is held in Woking, Surrey, in the Rhoda McGaw Theatre (within The Ambassadors, Peacock Centre). The theatre seats 228 in 9 rows of raked seating and has been reported to have excellent acoustics. The stage is flat, 58’ wide from wall to wall, with a 36’ curtain opening. From the main tabs it is 19’ back to the cyclorama and 8’ forward to the front of the stage. The theatre has also been used by the WDA to host the British All Winners Festival on those occasions when it has been invited to do so by the National Drama Festivals Association (the next time will be in July 2009). This is an affiliated theatre of the New Victoria Theatre, a commercial touring house owned and run by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). The venue has a unique relationship with the local council, whereby the council handles all the administration for the theatre, with the staffing and technical facilities run by the ATG. The council hires the theatre for four weeks each year to present professional touring productions (mostly one person shows), with the rest programmed by the WDA and local dance and drama schools.
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