On the 27th March, I headed up north to the beautiful seaside town of Scarborough for the National Student Drama Festival. Shamefully, I had not heard of the festival until recently, despite its 59 year history. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect from the week ahead.
When I arrived, I was in awe of the beauty of the town. Grand, Victorian buildings line large, open streets which lead to a gorgeous coastline. The main hub of the festival was in the Spa complex on the shore front, so I was always greeted by glorious views of the sea, even if, most days, we weren’t lucky enough to have such beautiful weather as we did when I first arrived!
As part of the Management Team, my role was to act as a steward, ensuring the attendees were safe and in the right place. This meant that I got to sit in on a number of workshops lead by some of the impressive Visiting Artists who attended the Festival, and also did Front of House for a couple of shows.
When not working, I was able to watch the shows that had been selected for the Festival – twelve in total, of which I managed to see ten. I was extremely impressed with the quality of each production, even if they weren’t all to my taste – there was a nice variety in the style and theme of the shows. My personal favourite was Walrus Theatre Company’s ‘Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons’, a play that explored the importance of language within relationships.
I also had some time to explore Scarborough, including the cliffs, Castle, and cream teas!
In all, it was an excellent week that inspired me to look into areas of the industry that I hadn’t previously considered working in. I would highly recommend the festival to anyone between the ages of 16-25 who is looking to work in theatre: it is an excellent opportunity to meet people in the same situation as you. In addition, the Visiting Artists are very accessible – they actively encourage you to talk to them during the week, so you can get helpful advice from people who have ‘made it’. So whether you want to submit a play of your own, work on the Management or Technical Teams, or simply attend and watch the shows, it is certainly worth keeping an eye out for next year’s festival.
Charlotte John 