Runnymede Drama Group

Last updated
Runnymede Drama Group
Runnymede Drama Group
Founded1948 [1]
Location
Key people
Colin Dolley GODA
Affiliations National Drama Festivals Association
Website rdg.org

Runnymede Drama Group ("RDG") is a community theatre group based in Chertsey, Surrey that is notable for not only for its longevity, but also for its success both at a national and international level being one of the few groups to have won every major festival in the United Kingdom and having also been selected to represent the United Kingdom on the international stage.

Contents

History

Based in the Surrey town of Chertsey, RDG was founded in 1948. [1] It stages at least five productions each year, including drama festival entries. The group has also been noted for its production and promotion of new material, such as its 2000 production of Scarecrow. [2]

Festival honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Runnymede</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Margulies</span> American playwright

Donald Margulies is an American playwright and academic. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Dinner with Friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chertsey</span> Town in Surrey, England

Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, 29 km (18 mi) south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the early 15th century. The River Bourne through the town meets the Thames at Weybridge. The Anglican church has a medieval tower and chancel roof. The 18th-century listed buildings include the current stone Chertsey Bridge and Botleys Mansion. A curfew bell, rung at 8 pm on weekdays from Michaelmas to Lady Day ties with the romantic local legend of Blanche Heriot, marked by a statue of her and the bell at Chertsey Bridge. Green areas include the Thames Path National Trail, Chertsey Meads and a round knoll with remains of a prehistoric hill fort known as Eldebury Hill. Pyrcroft House dates from the 18th century and Tara from the late 20th. Train services are run between Chertsey railway station and London Waterloo by South Western Railway. The town is within the M25, accessible via junction 11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addlestone</span> Human settlement in England

Addlestone is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately 18.6 mi (29.9 km) southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Gage</span> American actor, writer and director

Carolyn Gage is an American playwright, actor, theatrical director and author. She has written nine books on lesbian theater and sixty-five plays, musicals, and one-woman shows. A lesbian feminist, her work emphasizes non-traditional roles for women and lesbian characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amateur theatre</span> Theatre performed by amateur actors and singers

Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as for aesthetic values. Productions may take place in venues ranging from the open air, community centres, or schools to independent or major professional theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egham Hythe</span> Settlement in Runneymede, Surrey, England

Egham Hythe, Pooley Green and Thorpe Lea are adjacent settlements in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of central London. They are separated from the town of Egham by the M25 and from Staines upon Thames by the River Thames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Ockert</span> Musical artist

Darren Ockert is an English pop singer, songwriter and record producer born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, currently residing in Miami, Florida, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottershaw</span> Human settlement in England

Ottershaw is a village in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately 32 km (20 mi) southwest of central London. The village developed in the mid-19th century from a number of separate hamlets and became a parish in its own right in 1871.

Samuel French, Inc. is an American company, founded by Samuel French and Thomas Hailes Lacy, who formed a partnership to combine their existing interests in London and New York City. It publishes plays, represents authors, and sells scripts from their Los Angeles, UK, and online bookstores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Scharf</span> American dramatist

Mark Scharf, is an American playwright, actor and teacher. His plays have received readings and productions across the United States and internationally in England, Mainland China, Australia, Canada and Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of the United Kingdom</span> Overview of theatre in the UK

Theatre of United Kingdom plays an important part in British culture, and the countries that constitute the UK have had a vibrant tradition of theatre since the Renaissance with roots going back to the Roman occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folksbiene</span>

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, commonly known as NYTF, is a professional theater company in New York City which produces both Yiddish plays and plays translated into Yiddish, in a theater equipped with simultaneous superscript translation into English. The company's leadership consists of executive director Dominick Balletta and artistic director Zalmen Mlotek. The board is co-chaired by Sandra Cahn and Carol Levin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woking Drama Festival</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All-England Theatre Festival</span>

The All-England Theatre Festival ("AETF") organises the only countrywide eliminating contest for one-act plays in performance throughout England. It provides an opportunity for Amateurs to compete against like-minded groups and to benefit from the adjudication they receive to improve the quality of their performance. The AETF also maintains contact with other leading bodies involved in Amateur Dramatics throughout the United Kingdom by means of its membership of the Central Council for Amateur Theatre, The Drama Festivals Consortium and the British Finals Standing Committee. The festival is also involved with the Geoffrey Whitworth Trophy Competition, in conjunction with the other 'Hosts' of the British Festival, to judge original unpublished scripts that are first produced within the relevant festivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Festival of Community Theatre</span>

The UKCDFF, established in 1927, is a United Kingdom-based celebration of amateur theatre at the local, national and UK level. Each year, the national amateur organisations in the home nations promote a series of one-act play festivals and, through various eliminating rounds, take part in the final stage. The final stage is called the British Final Festival of One Act Plays, and includes companies and enthusiasts from all over the UK. A Standing Committee of representatives of the four countries has overall control of the Festival, with each country in turn taking the responsibility for organising it.

The Mondial du Théâtre, also titled the International Festival of Amateur Theatre and the World Festival of Amateur Theatre is the first festival of its kind, celebrating amateur and community theatre. It is organised by the Studio de Monaco and the International Association of Amateur Theatre (IATA). It is held every four years in the Principality of Monaco since its inaugural festival in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carole Fréchette</span> Canadian playwright

Carole Fréchette is a Canadian playwright. She won the Siminovitch Prize in 2002. To date she has written more than a dozen plays including The Four Lives of Marie, The Seven Days of Simon Labrosse, Helen's Necklace, John and Beatrice, The Little Room at the Top of the Stairs, and most recently: Thinking of Yu.

The International Amateur Theatre Association is a worldwide non-governmental organisation of Member and Associates dedicated to promoting understanding and education through amateur theatre. Founded in Belgium in 1952, its members operate in more than 80 countries on 5 continents, making AITA/IATA the powerful voice of the global amateur theatre community. The current President is Mrs Béatrice Cellario from Monaco and the organisation’s Secretariat is in London, England.

Sunil Kuruvilla is a Canadian playwright from Waterloo, Ontario. He is most noted for his play Rice Boy, which was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2003 Governor General's Awards.

References

  1. 1 2 Colin Dolley, Scene and Heard - Fifty Years of the Runnymede Drama Group, 1998, (Cambridge Publishing Services), ISBN   0-948790-21-0
  2. D. L. Lepidus, New playwrights: the best plays of 2000, page 106 Contemporary playwrights series (Publisher: Smith and Kraus) 2002
  3. "Runnymede Drama Group - Runnymede Drama Group - Home". www.rdg.org.
  4. "12ème Festival Mondial du Théâtre Amateur 26 juillet - 4 août 2001". monaco.net (in French). Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.