Am dram groups from across Surrey, Sussex and Kent gathered at Oxted's Barn Theatre for the Southern Counties Drama Festival 2010 last week. Peter Steptoe was at the awards night...

The final festival entry to take the stage and the end of this year's Southern Counties Drama Festival (SCDF) week walked away with three awards, including Overall Winner.

The Barfield Players, based in Tonbridge, Kent, also took home the Best Actress and Best Actor awards when they presented The Window Cleaner on Saturday night (February 27), which was also the awards night.

Adult and youth groups from across Surrey Sussex and Kent performed 11 one-act plays between them as they competed for awards in a variety of categories during the festival, which opened on Tuesday, February 23.

They were judged by professional adjudicator Arthur Rochester of The Guild of Drama Adjudicators.

The festival formed the first round of the All England Theatre Festival.

Barfield Players, along with Runner Up, The Young Oxted Players, will now go on to compete in the Eastern Area Finals at The Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, on Sunday (March 7).

Eliminating rounds eventually lead to the English Final of the All England Drama Festival, the winner of which goes on to the British Final where it competes against winners of similar festivals in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

SCDF is supported by Gatwick Airport Community Trust and in recognition of its support, the youth award is named The Gatwick Airport Community Trust Award for Best Youth Production.

Barfield Players, Tonbridge, Kent - The Window Cleaner

SCDF Overall Winner

Best Actress – Sophie Kisilevsky

Best Actor – Richard Jeffreys

The 59th Southern Counties Drama Festival had the unusual distinction of reserving the best till last, according to the judgement of adjudicator Arthur Rochester.

The festival winner was the Barfield Players based in Tonbridge, Kent, with a two-hander entitled The Window Cleaner by Gillian Plowman.

In addition, the award for the Best Actress went to Sophie Kisilevsky as Jill and the Best Actor to Richard Jeffreys as Daryl.

Jill the window cleaner discovered the presence of Daryl, a burglar, in the flat for which she had the keys.

We got to know a great deal about them as the situation gradually unwound and tension built up.

The adjudicator said Kisilevsky had great vocal variety, was very truthful and extremely skilful. Richard Jeffreys as Daryl moved easily from laconic to bluster and back again as the situation required.

The set was praised for giving the effect of wealth and the lighting ensured that the actors' faces could be seen wherever they stood.

Movement was excellent and the whole of the stage was used with the moves flowing naturally as the action of the play demanded – for this he commended the director, Sandra Barfield.

Young Oxted Players - 1 of 56

SCDF Runner-Up

Gatwick Airport Community Trust Award for Best Youth Production

The runner up for the second year running was Young Oxted Players with 1 of 56.

This play told the story of Joshua Thompson who found himself a prisoner of his own imagination when he fell into a coma. We the audience followed him as he tumbled through his own memories.

Ben Atterbury was both director and writer of the play and it was a considerable achievement for one so young to come second in a drama festival.

In addition, the adjudicator explained it was Atterbury's first attempt at directing. He is obviously talented because he was awarded Best Young Actor at last year's festival.

The group was also awarded the Gatwick Airport Community Trust Award for Best Youth Production.

Heathfield Drama Club 1 - Hush Little Celia

Best Young Actress – Jessica Barrett

Best Young Actor – Matthew Martin

Adjudicator's Award – Mary Pearson (for two productions)

Heathfield Drama Club entered two youth teams into the festival. Team one's production of Hush Little Celia by Joseph Wallace told the story of Celia who didn't talk.

Her teachers wanted to know why, her father was angry with her and the psychologist wanted to help.

Fellow student Todd tried to get close to her and through persistence, bad poetry and a bizarre audition for a production of Romeo and Juliet, he did.

Jessica Barrett as Celia and Matthew Martin as Todd received the awards of Best Young Actress and Best Young Actor.

The adjudicator explained his own award would go to who he considered to be best director.

He chose to award it to Mary Pearson, for her direction of both this play and the play presented by Heathfield Drama Club's second team, Ernie's Incredible Illucinations.

The Oxted Players - Alternative Accomodation

Best Stage Presentation

The award for best stage presentation went to The Oxted Players who presented Alternative Accommodation by Pam Valentine.

It told the story of elderly widowed mother Anna (June Brown) and her three children Peter (Nigel Brown), Joy (Ghislaine Bowden), and Gemma (Mandie Arbuckle).

They were meeting to decide what to do with their mother – but she had other ideas.

This was an excellent comedy and great entertainment against a set which comprised solid French windows and doors with suitable furnishings.

The adjudicator said in his summing up that Nigel Brown was one of those considered for Best Actor and June Brown and Mandie Arbuckle for Best Actress.

Round up of plays by other East Surrey societies

Merstham Amateur Dramatic Society presented Sense of the Ridiculous by Rae Terence, which was based upon the idea that hell was other people. Mary, who lived with her mother and Uncle Henry, dreamt they had murdered 23 people. The Devil called to extract retribution and the play took off from there.

Applause Youth Theatre Company, based at Dorking Halls, gave us Totally Over You by Mark Ravenhill, about four teenagers who had set their hearts on a glamorous lifestyle in which they plan to date celebrities. The girls needed to dump their un-glamorous boyfriends – who objected and with the help of the school drama class hatched a plan to teach them a lesson.

Woldingham Players' production, Too Long An Autumn by Jimmie Chinn, was about an old music hall star living in a home for such people, who had a humourless bank manager son with a similarly inclined wife.

There was a bossy care home manager and a theatrical promoter who wanted her to star in his revival of a musical comedy.

The characters were well drawn and the comedy entertaining. The adjudicator was slightly concerned about the pace and felt that the dance at the end might have required more rehearsal, but he enjoyed it.

Glow Theatre Group, a youth group based in Caterham, presented Three Characters In Search Of A Verdict by Sue Gordon. This told the story of a group of fairy tale characters who got their day in court after an episode involving a beanstalk, with Jack's mother being tried for receiving stolen property.

Other entrants

Sevenoaks Players – Edward by Margaret Wood

Tonbridge Theatre And Arts Club – Fever by Reza De Wet

Heathfield Drama Club 2 (youth) – Ernie's Incredible Illucinations by Alan Ayckbourn