SCDA One Act Festival
28/2/2004

Tryst Theatre 'C' have made it through to the Eastern Divisional Final of the SCDA One Act Festival with their "almost balletic" production of "Travels With My Aunt".

The team collected the East Stirlingshire District Trophy as well as the Barker Quaich for best direction..

Tryst's other entry, "The Hitch-Hiker" by Lucille Fletcher, was placed second picking up the Porteous Salver as well as the Rose Bowl for stage decor.

SCDA rules mean that only one team from each club can go through so Travels will be joined in the next round by Bowhouse Amateur Theatre's "The Virtuous Burglar"

Local Drama Wins As Tryst Triumphs

The Real Madrid of local drama scored a striking home win last week!

Tryst Theatre beat off stiff competition from... Tryst Theatre to secure The East Stirlingshire District Trophy at the regional finals of the Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA) one act play festival.

As the festival made its debut in the very homely Bowhouse Community Centre after 72 unbroken years in Falkirk, it was the Larbert drama club, whose C team triumphed with "Travels With My Aunt" by Giles Havergal - scooping The Barker Quaich for production to boot.

The winning play was a superb four-man effort - with Alan Clark, Jim Allan, Malcolm Newlands and Craig Murray turning in equally assured comic performances - described by Fife adjudicator Ron Nicol as "inspired lunacy".

If the winning team was Real Madrid, the competition was Champions League quality - with some high-scoring performances on both sell-out nights.

Tryst A team's performance of "The Hitch-Hiker" by Lucille Fletcher on Wednesday won them The Porteous Salver as runners-up and The Rose Bowl Award for stage decor. Leads Brian Tripney and Stephanie Zak came in for special praise from the adjudicator.

But just one team from each company can go through, so third-placed Bowhouse Amateur Theatre A got the nod with their hilarious version of Dario Fo's farcial The Virtuous Burglar.

Tryst C and Bowhouse A now take their plays to the divisional finals in Killin in March 25-27.

There was no award for best acting performance on the night, but had there been, that honour would surely have been bestowed on Cathy Gow as the burglar's wife. Cathy, you were ace and The Falkirk Herald salutes you!

The future of local drama looks rosy too. Young Portonians A won the Lillias Scougall Trophy - their production of Fireflies by Harry Glass on Thursday was the audience's favourite play.

But Young Portonians B got the nod from the adjudicator and their road safety play 'Why did the chicken cross the road' by Mark Wheeler will represent Falkirk district at the divisional youth finals to be held at Bowhouse Community Centre on March 20. John Love and Jane Murdoch were both brilliant, as was the young supporting cast.

Young Portonians were awarded the Margaret Miller Quaich by Mr Nicol for "lively, enthusiastic performances of both their plays".

On a more sombre note, tribute was paid to two giants of local theatre, Andrew Hunter MBE and Drew Scougall, who sadly passed away in the last 12 months. Andrew was SCDA district secretary for 26 years and Drew co-founded the Young Portonians with wife Lillias.