Malmesbury Group Makes it Two in a Row!

The Athelstan Players Retain the Rosebowl as Champions at HJ'07!

Malmesbury based Athelstan Players were awarded the Betty Peck Rosebowl as Festival Winners on Saturday 24 February 2007.

Their entry, "The Nightingale and Not The Lark", by Jennifer Johnston, impressed the festival adjudicator and they took home not only the winners' trophy but also a Best Actress Award.

Christine Mace is the Athelstans' Director: "You don't really believe it's you he's talking about! Not until someone pushes you forward and you go on stage and come back in a blur! It's still not sunk in yet!"

Christine reckons it was a combination of acting and staging that won the day. "Everything blended together; the adjudicator liked our set – it was old and shabby, just as you'd expect. And Bob and Megan blended together so well in a superb play by a well known author. We're really looking forward to the next round."

The ‘Megan' referred to there by Christine is Megan Mills. She got the Audrey Suter Trophy for Best Actress for her touching portrayal of Mamie.

See 2007 Results for the full list of award winners.

Playwrite Winner

The winner of the BBC Radio Swindon and Swindon Advertiser competition Playwrite – for orginal plays – was Autumn Terror by Jon Nash. His play was performed by Old Town Theatre Company who were awarded the Swindon Advertiser Award for an Original Production. They were also awarded the The Audrey Suter Trophy for Best Actor which went to Jeremy Smith as Dr Brown. Once again, OTTC are to be commended for their bravery in agreeing to stage a play, before anyone knows what it'll be! Well done OTTC!

Happy 60th Birthday!

With a drama festival first taking place in Swindon in 1947, it seemed an ideal opportunity to celebrate and let everybody in on the party atmosphere! To do that, you need a cake and thanks again to Diane Fry from Wootton Bassett who kindly donated a 100 portion Victoria Sponge! It went down a treat with festival goers during the final interval on Saturday night!

Recognising Long Service

One lady who remembers that first festival in 1947 very well is the Swindon & District Theatre Guild President, Joan Cheshire. Back then she was just ‘helping out' but in the years since then, Joan has become the backbone of drama in Swindon. She's dedicated years of time and commitment to ensuring the festival kept going and bringing entertainment to the town. To recognise that dedication, Martin Clifton, Chair of the Swindon & District Theatre Guild, presented Joan with a commemorative trophy. Joan also accepted a similar trophy on behalf of Vice President, Charles Grace, who couldn't attend because of ill health.

What a Great Festival!

That's how Festival Director, Ashley Heath, sums up HJ'07! "It was delightful for the festival to have an increased number of plays showing, and more people watching too, in the festival's 60th year. We had three days' worth of great local talent, both young and old, who showed that drama is alive and well in Swindon. Come along next year and help us make HJ'08 even better!"

The Photographs on this page are ©Robert Slade, Manor Photography