Could the next SFD awards evening be the last?

It really is make-or-break time for the SFD's oldest competition.

We are all looking forward to the Phoebe Rees Awards evening at the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster on 20 October. This is our competition for full-length plays and, if previous awards ceremonies are anything to go by, amateur thespians from all across Somerset don their glad rags and gather together to celebrate another year of superb theatre.

It is all made possible, of course, by our dedicated team of adjudicators who, together with moderator Robert Graydon and coordinator Andrew Busby have worked hard over the year. Between them, they have visited each show, written detailed adjudications, and assessed every aspect of every show to decide who were the best performers, directors, set designers, lighting managers and so much more. And, of course, they have organised the entire awards evening to make it the fantastic event that it always is. Without them, there is no Phoebe Rees Competition.

Unfortunately, both Andrew and Robert are stepping down at the end of this season. And unless they can be urgently replaced, the SFD committee has agreed that the competition will not be able to run next year. SFD Chairman Sam Allen said, "Following Covid we have found it increasingly hard to recruit volunteers. This is true across all our competitions and we have only managed to keep them going because people have agreed to undertake more than one role. But we can't go on like this. Without more volunteers we simply cannot keep the competitions going."

He went on to say, "When we got together again after lockdown, a number of our volunteers decided that the time was right for them to call it a day. At that time we put out an appeal and we were so grateful that people answered that call. Both Robert and Andrew stepped up to the plate when we really needed them and we are so grateful to them for the excellent work they have done over the past year. But we always need more people because there is inevitably a constant turnover. And we have now come to another crunch moment."

So can you help? Could you be a moderator or a coordinator? If the competitions are going to continue, we urgently need people to join us. Why not contact us and we can have a chat about the roles and what they entail?

The Phoebe Rees Competition is the SFD's longest-running event and it would be a massive blow if we were not able to continue it.

Do you think you can help? Contact us on: somersetdramafellowship@gmail.com