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Semi-Circle from Basel, who were runners-up in FEATS 2014 with The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish by David Tristram, were invited to take their production to the 2014 British All Winners festival on the Isle of Man. Director Zuzana Cox has sent us a report of their experiences.
Zuzana writes:
Semi-Circle Basel (runners-up FEATS 2014) had great success in the NDFA British All Winners Festival. The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish won two prizes.
The opportunity to perform in a prestigious festival in the unique setting of the Gaiety Theatre on the Isle of Man – which amateur group could ask for more?
The theater – designed by the famous theater architect Frank Matcham and built in 1899, has a seating capacity of almost 900, a raked stage which drops around 30cm from up- to downstage, multiple traps and much dust, cobwebs and ghosts.
The festival consists of five days of amateur theater of the highest standard. Each performing group has won (or been a close runner-up) at an NDFA festival during the year. This year it consisted of two full-length and nine one-act plays.
Semi-Circle was highly profiled throughout the week, and was interviewed by the local television station! Many people in Douglas were curious about the visitors from Switzerland and we received compliments and much positive feedback. The quality of plays at the festival was stunning and the fact that the Semi-Circle won two of the five awards given for one-act plays truly reflects the excellent standard of our club. Our group were able to make use of the theater facilities – traps, lighting, sound and all – to stage a production which was entertaining, slick and professional. A fact recognized by the adjudicator when she presented David with the adjudicator’s award for best performance. The high standard of the technical team was also recognized and we were proud to be awarded the trophy for technical and backstage work. The whole team look forward to sharing their experiences with our Semi-Circle members at an upcoming event, and using these experiences to bring even higher quality entertainment to our audiences and great on- and backstage experiences to our active members.
- Director: Zuzana Cox
- Cast: David Cox, Christine Archer, Joy Scherer
- Crew: Susan Aeschbach, Ann Apted, Jonathan Apted, Clare Austin, Zuzana Cox, Sharon Marshall
