Somerset Fellowship of Drama

- find out all about us

Our aim is to promote amateur theatre throughout the county. With some 80 member societies and 60 individual members, we exist to promote all aspects of amateur theatre in the county through competitions, presentation evenings, online communications and more. Our early records, when we were part of Somerset County Council, were destroyed by fire but we know the SFD is nearly 100 years old.

So, what does the SFD actually do?...
FELLOWSHIP
A rather quaint old-fashioned idea perhaps, but when we asked people, back in 1998, that's what they said they wanted - a sense of belonging to an organisation with a common purpose, and a means of sharing - ideas, problems, solutions, and even equipment. The Committee of the SFD exists to help its members, and as a member you have a direct line of communication to it through any of the committee members.

SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight is our online 'magazine' to keep members informed of all our activities. We also publish regular reviews of some productions that have been entered in our competitions.

FACEBOOK
Our Facebook pages are great ways to find out about amateur theatre activities. members can post details of their shows as well as information about auditions. They can also  appeal fo help with props, costumes or anything else drama related. It is a great way to keep in touch with fellow thespians in the county.

TRAINING
We will provide bursaries to help fund suitable drama-related training activities.

DIARY
The SFD Diary runs 12 months in advance, and we would encourage groups to make it useful by entering their production dates and venues for the coming year as soon as they are confirmed. We don't even need to know the name of the production if it hasn't yet been decided - just 'Pantomime' or 'Autumn Production' will do fine. We can update the Diary as more details emerge and we can set it up to appear in What's On, when a slot becomes vacant, as soon as you send us your poster as an image. Important SFD events - like Presentation Evenings and the AGM - will also appear in the Diary.
And talking about the...

AGM
The SFD is a charity and, of course, has a Constitution (which you can read in full under Documents and Resources if you are interested). This requires us to have an AGM, which we hold in September in a different area of Somerset each year. We try to keep the business element to a minimum - usually about half an hour - and we spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the famous cream teas specially prepared by members of the committee. 

ORIGINAL WRITING COMPETITION
This is open to playwrights from all over the South West. It is for one-act plays and the best plays are often staged and entered in the...

COUNTY DRAMA FESTIVAL
This is a one act play festival held in March over one weekend. It is adjudicated publicly by a professional Adjudicator, usually from GODA. The winning team goes on to represent Somerset in the next round of the All England Theatre Festival. Youth entries are very welcome and the winning Youth entry goes on to the Five Counties Youth Drama Festival.
We also have our own...

THE PHOEBE REES COMPETITION
This is for full length plays and runs from September to August...

THE DAVID BEACH COMPETION
This is for full length musicals and runs from January to November...

THE CINDERELLA TROPHY COMPETITION
This is for pantomimes and runs from November to March

THE DAVID BEACH YOUTH COMPETITION
This is the same as the David Beach Competition except, as the name suggests, it is for youth groups..

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