Monday 23 May

Our festival opens with:
the Winners of the Welwyn Garden City Youth Drama Festival 2016
Phoenix Youth Theatre Company
Girl Interrupted (based on the memoir by Susanna Kaysen)

Saint Monica’s Players
Career Day by Paul Adam Levy
What should have been straightforward careers advice for four North London school boys descends into comedic anarchy when one pupil has no plans for the future.

The Settlement Players
The Bride To Be by Peter Quilter
Angela is about to get married for the third time. Her brother Toby is on hand to escort her to the church when she gets a serious case of cold feet…

Tuesday 24 May

Anglia Ruskin Creative
So Much For Buckingham by Sean Lang
Leicester, 2013. When the bones of King Richard III are found under a council car park, enthusiastic Richard-fan Alison can hardly contain her excitement. But when she meets the ghost of her hero, things turn unexpectedly dark.

Biggleswade Amateur Theatrical Society
Much Ado About Nothing (Abridged) by William Shakespeare
We welcome you to the Messina Casino Hotel as our story of love and lies unfolds in our abridged version of a Shakespeare Classic.

Wednesday 25 May

Meridian Theatre
The Donahue Sisters by Geraldine Aron
Three Irish sisters meet again after a break of several years. A secret from their shared childhood still haunts them. Can they ever find a way to break free of it?

Barn Theatre Club
A Cream Cracker Under the Settee by Alan Bennett
Doris, living alone since her much-loved husband died, fears being put into Stafford House where ‘people smell of pee’.  We meet her after a fall at home, sitting alone and unable to call for help, as she reflects on her life.

Woodhouse Players
The Long Christmas Dinner by Thornton Wilder
Ninety years in the life of the Bayard family, told through their annual Christmas gatherings. A meditation on life, death, time, continuity, and change by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Our Town” and novel “The Bridge of San Luis Rey”.

Thursday 26 May

Another Theatre Company
Faceless by Heather Dunmore
A cautionary tale about the perils of social media

Tiger Theatrical Productions
Just A Straight Man by Rob Smith
The play is set on stage before a show by the famous comedy double act Trevor and Barney. Recently they have fallen on hard times, can the partnership of two huge egos survive as terrible secrets are revealed and skeletons come flying out of closets?
This is another chance to see our winning play from 2013. Tiger are currently experiencing success with this play at other UK festivals but, given their success three years ago, wish to perform at Welwyn in a non-competitive capacity this year. Purely for our entertainment!

Oneactors
Lucy in the Sky by Tony Layton

Friday 27 May

The Players’ Theatre (Wales)
New Place and Time by Richard Macaulay

Barn Theatre Club
Her Big Chance by Alan Bennett
Meet Lesley, an aspiring and self-confessed talented actress who is looking for her big break. As she tells her story, her own self delusions and gullibility become increasingly apparent, making this an acidly funny, chilling and yet poignant piece.

Clavering Players
The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish by David Tristram
Henry and Alice’s marriage is flagging. Fantasy blurs into reality. Two worlds which seem a million miles apart are suddenly on a collision course.  Only their pet goldfish, and you, will ever know the true story.  A fabulously funny short comedy.  

Saturday 28 May

Oadby Drama
Romance by John Reason
Three women reflect on their lives – all are dreaming of Barnstaple and a bearded poet.

The Players’ Theatre (Wales)
A Night Out by Frank Vickery
Seizing the opportunity, while her parents are out, Doreen decides to invite round Eric, her boyfriend. However, the evening is doomed to failure for all concerned!

Followed by the Awards Ceremony