The 2011 Festival was held at Bablake Drama Studio, Coundon Road, Coventry, on 19th November.  The Adjudicators were the ever popular David Biddle and Jane Killingbeck, our LEA English Advisor who judged the Public Speaking Class.  We would like to thank both our Adjudicators who made a fantastic contribution to the success of the day.

The Festival Committee would also like to say a huge thank you to all the stewards and helpers who made the day run so smoothly and to all our competitors and their teachers who worked so hard and produced such a wonderful selection of excellent performances.  The standard seems to get better every year!

Special congratulations to all the competitors and audience who sustained their interest throughout the very long Humorous Poem class in the afternoon – you were all fantastic and congratulations to the very worthy winner!  The committee have decided that in future we will try to restrict classes in this age group to one hour max but this will mean that we need to make sure we have dates of birth on the entry forms.

We were thrilled to have so many entries in the Public Speaking class and honoured to have The Shaun Hastie-Fuller Cup presented in memory of Shaun, a former competitor.  He was a keen poet and public speaker and we hope that the award will stimulate more interest in the category – after all, public speaking skills are useful in all aspects of life and are an excellent preparation for a successful future.

The 2011 Festival will be held at

Bablake School Drama Studio, Coundon Road, Coventry.

On 19th November 2011 – starting at 9.00 a.m.

Our Adjudicator is the ever popular:

David Biddle

T.Cert (Oxon) B.Ed. (Hons) LLAM (Hons) ALAM, ALAM (Recital)

David has played numerous theatre roles including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Wicksted in Habeas Corpus, Prentice/Rance in What the Butler Saw, Tempest in Forty Years On, Gaev in The Cherry Orchard and Polonius in Hamlet and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Musical theatre roles include Higgins in My Fair Lady, Fagin in Oliver and Vandergelder in Hello Dolly.

On television he has been seen in Juliet Bravo, Gangsters, Anne Hughes her diary, Crossroads (the original), Great Expectations, Boon, Zig-Zag among many others, for him the highlight being several appearances in the original Basil Brush Show.

For theatre he has directed Equus, The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible,  Hadrian the Seventh, An Italian Straw Hat and Forty Years On. He has scripted and presented Songs of Praise (BBC1) and Sunday Half-Hour (BBC Radio 2) – and he regularly scripts and comperes concerts of all shapes and sizes!

At present he divides his time between teaching and examining for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art both in this country and abroad – and Festival Adjudication, which he finds really enjoyable and rewarding. 

David is really pleased to be returning to Coventry Festival, where he has always given great encouragement in the past. He says, “It is a festival where you will always find a friendly atmosphere and rewarding work.”

The classes are as follows:
MAIN HALL
9.00 a.m. Prose Speaking – All Ages
10.00 a.m. Solo Acting – Ages C & D
11.00 a.m. Sight Reading & Prepared Reading – All Ages
11.45 a.m. Poetry Writing Class – All Ages
12.15 p.m. LUNCH
1.15 p.m. Group Verse & Small Dramatic Scene – All Ages
2.15 p.m. Humorous Verse – Age D
4.15 p.m. TEA BREAK
4.45 p.m. Verse Speaking – Ages D & E
6.00 p.m. Humorous Verse – Age C
6.30 p.m. Verse Speaking – Ages B & C
7.00 p.m. Solo Acting, Shakespeare & Duologue – Age B
8.00 p.m. FINISH
STUDIO
2.30 p.m. Public Speaking Classes
4.14 p.m. Tea (& Finish)

We wish all our competitors the best of luck and we are looking forward to an exciting day, to meeting up with old friends and welcoming new ones!