Festival gives students chance to shine amid gloom of cuts

A FULL tank of petrol was all that was needed to get us to Scarborough, a place which besides serving some of the best ice-cream on the coast has also launched the careers of some of the country’s best loved actors. This week a few more will hopefully follow in their footsteps.

The National Student Drama Festival is now in its 55th year and the week-long seaside shindig has seen Stephen Fry, John Godber and Rik Mayall visit in their early careers.

I recently finished my drama training and picked up an agent who convinced me I didn’t need to move from Bradford to London to have a successful acting career. But it’s a tough business and everyone in Scarborough is there to improve their chances.

These are the cream of the crop. The NSDF selectors spend all year seeing productions at universities, drama schools and training colleges, seeking out the best performances. Just a dozen are selected for the Scarborough stage.

Those that don’t make the cut are still invited to come along, see the shows and take part in a series of workshops that run throughout the week. Then there are people like me – I’m no longer attached to a drama school, I’m just here for the experience.

It’s just a few weeks since the Arts Council delivered bad news to many theatres and arts groups across the country, who either saw their funding cut or withdrawn altogether. A few did see their money increase, but everyone in Scarborough knows that these are tough times for the arts, particularly for those just starting out and against the backdrop many wondered out loud as they unpacked for the week whether the festival would be able to muster the same spirit as previous years.

If the first few days are anything to go by, we needn’t have worried. Once again the festival has not only pulled together a diverse and often challenging selection of productions, it’s programme of workshops run by some of the industry’s most influential people, representing everyone from the Royal Shakespeare Company to Bristol Old Vic and crucially for those taking their first step on the acting ladder, Equity is again impressive. Not every show is a winner. The first production I saw, was Orphans, from the University of Nottingham. It was about race, it was about a stabbing and while it lived up to its billing of being deeply disturbing it also left me feeling a little uncomfortable.

Line from students of the University of York was a far easier watch. Taking inspiration from the British love of queuing we were confronted with five people as they attempted to debate, brawl and manipulate their way to the front of a seemingly pointless line. It was witty, well acted and above all provoked debate.

This festival is not about big budgets, and the group from Leeds University showed just what’s possible with limited money and space. For Dealer’s Choice, the backdrop was a poker game, the performances stunning and the atmosphere as two men confront their failed dreams intense. Bringing people from different backgrounds, but with the shared ambition of producing great drama is what the NSDF does best. One thing we are assured is that whatever happens, the festival will be going ahead next year. The plays will be different, some of those here this year will have moved on, but for a festival like this the only important thing is that the show does go on.

EARLY LANDMARK AT THE SEASIDE

• NSDF was founded in 1956 by Sunday Times arts columnist Kenneth Pearson, theatre critic Harold Hobson and NUS president Frank Copplestone.

• 1956: Timothy West directed Our Town, winning the Sunday Times Drama Trophy.

• 1970: Michael Attenborough performed in The Stronghold.

• 1975: Michael Boyd, now artistic director of the RSC, performed and directed in God, Herbert, Donne and the Devil.

• 1988: Mark Gatiss, of The League of Gentlemen, performed and devised Damage Your Children.