KDA has for many years run an adjudicated full-length play festival each Spring for amateur drama societies.

The Festival's professional adjudicator attends a performance of each society's production at its own venue, and gives a full public adjudication to the audience followed by an opportunity for private discussion with the cast and production team.

The Festival ends with an awards ceremony evening - twenty two Awards, for all aspects of a production ranging from Best Overall Production to Best Actor in a Cameo Role.

The adjudicator of several years' Festivals, Charles Evans, produced some notes that may be of interest to societies and which can be downloaded here. These are the copyright of Charles Evans and should not be reproduced or disseminated outside members of KDA without his consent.

A list of all award winners in recent years can be downloaded here.

2024 Full-Length Play Festival


Entry for the 2024 Full-Length Play Festival is now closed. It will be adjudicated, between 1st February and 25th May by Amanda Sharpe-Conroy, and details of the entries are shown on the Productions page.


2023 Radio Play Festival


Following its success in the last two years, we ran a Radio Play Festival again in Autumn 2023, adjudicated by Amanda Sharpe-Conroy.

This format provides an opportunity for learning about, and participating in, a different form of drama, and an opening for those who prefer not to participate in staged plays and for budding playwrights.

A short radio play (20-60 minutes) is submitted as an audio file for adjudication, and an Awards Ceremony is held and certificates are given to the winners and runners-up in a range of categories.

There were six entries in the 2023 Radio Play Festival, and the overall winner was Alternate Shadows for their production of "What Nots of my Dad" by Brian Walsh. A list of the award winners can be downloaded here

2023 Full-Length Play Festival


There were 13 entries in the 2023 Full Length Play Festival.
The overall winner was Masquerade, for their production of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

A full list of awards and the marking schedule can be viewed here: .

One Act Play Festival


Medway Little Theatre usually runs the Duncan Rand Festival each July - a one act festival with separate competitions for Youth and Adult entries.


Other Local Festivals


There are other one act festivals open to societies in Kent - including:
Southern Counties Drama Festival - see barntheatreoxted.co.uk