Two More Plays and Winners Announced - Day 4 of the National Drama Festival

The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man. Photo by Tony Filsch.

It was the final day of the National Drama Festivals at The Albany Theatre on Sunday 21 July, followed by the Presentation of Awards.

Review by Ann Evans

After four days of excellent performances of original drama brought to The Albany Theatre from drama and theatre groups based as far away as Gibraltar, Guernsey, Ireland and all around the UK, Sunday afternoon saw the last two plays produced for our entertainment and then added to the other 14 to be judged by Adjudicator Keith Phillips.

Todays plays were The Real & Imagined History of the Elephant Man by Tom Wright and performed by Total Arts Community Theatre, and Handbags by Matthew Gough performed by Drama 13.

The Real & Imagined History of the Elephant Man is the heartbreaking story of Joseph Merrick, born in Leicester in 1862 whose physical deformities became so shocking that he was deemed fit only to appear in circus freak shows where he was cruelly regarded as a ‘human curiosity’ – a movement popular at the time.

Stephen Fortune Smith plays the adult Joseph Merrick - the Elephant Man, and certainly deserved the Exemplary Transformation Award received later that afternoon for the manner in which he gradually succumbed to the condition he suffered from that twisted and deformed his body into something horrific. Excellent acting by Stephen Fortune Smith who plays the part convincingly, hurt and angered by people's reaction to him as he struggles to find his place in this world where he is accepted. Such a tragic story, and hopefully the relationship that developes between him and a nurse at the hospital where he ended his days, was a true incident in his life and not just imagined.

 The second play was Handbags by Matthew Gough, performed by Drama 13. This was four monologues, by three women and one man, who are idly rooting through their bags, reminiscing over the items they turn up, bringing back memories, stirring up emotions from the past. The four individuals are very different from one another and have nothing in common except that they all share a secret.

Princess Forsythia (Susan Smith) is an elderly member of the nobility and enjoys making jam, Jean (Jot Rodgers) likes to sit on a park bench and feed the birds, Elsie Bird (Annette Gough) lives a lonely existence in a care home with only her blurred memories for company, and Phillip Stark (Paul Hana) sits on the stairs, eating Kit Kats – his late wife’s favourite chocolate snack, and contemplates the secret that he also harbours. This is a very softly spoken series of monologues with a variety of sound effects – ticking clocks, birdsong, and some Christmas songs that add to the secretive almost claustrophobic atmosphere of these four lives.

Celebratory Bubbly. Photo by Ann Evans.

After an interval, the Awards took place, with key figures from the NDFA taking their places on stage, for speeches, where thanks were expressed to the many people involved in making the festival a great success, acknowledging the tremendous amount of work that goes into the organisation and running of the festival.

Sir Derek Jacobi on the big screen. Photo by Ann Evans.

Patron of The NDFA Sir Derek Jacobi delighted everyone there by sending a personal video recording giving his support to everyone involved in the festival. The winner of the Sir Derek Jacobi Award for a new play was also announced. This went to Brian Hutchinson of Liverpool for his one-act play tackling dementia, entitled ‘The Keys to Life’.  

Festival Adjudicator Keith Keith Phillips then presented the awards:

Exemplary Commitment Award: Little Acorns with The Donor by Wayne Roberts.

Exemplary Teamwork Award: Limitless Academy of Performing Arts with Bouncers by Jon Godber.

Exemplary Experience Award: (Light and Sound) The Same by Edna Walsh, performed by Prosperous Drama (Northern Ireland).

Exemplary Experience Award (Comedy Moment) A Wake by Lee Flewitt of the Alderney Theatre Group (Guernsey).  (Beer pouring moment).

Exemplary Transformation Moment: Stephen Fortune Smith in….Elephant Man.

Exemplary Performance (Beyond acting): Erica McGrail in Bull.

The Overall Winner saw 5 short-listed plays all vying for that top spot with literally only 1 point dividing them.

 Nominations were: The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man by Tom Wright. TACT-Total Arts Community Theatre (England).

Goldfish Girl by Peter Souter. Woodhouse Players (England).

Friends Help You Move by John Ward. GEDS - Geneva English Drama Society.

Bull by Mike Bartlett. Theatre Makers (Gibraltar).

The Overall winner went to: The Same by Enda Walsh. Prosperous Drama (Ireland) 

The Overall Winners The Same by Enda Walsh. Prosperous Drama (Ireland) 

Please visit the National Drama Festivals Association to see video clips and more: https://ndfa.co.uk/national-drama-festival