Our huge thanks to Players Theatre Cheadle for their fantastic support with the 2026 One Act Play Festival , we had a great 5 days but we can’t do it without committed support from the host theatre.
Our huge thanks also to our adjudicator, Carmel Bird who, as ever, provided constructive and valuable adjudications to all the entrants.
Once again, we saw a terrific week of very high standard theatre and whilst congratulations are obviously extended to all winners, congratulations and thanks are also extended to all the entrants for taking part in this competitive festival and to all those unsung heroes that support the casts and directors in getting a play together, they all count. This contributes to the value of this vital festival because One Act Plays Rock! – so please keep writing them and keep on entering them. We would strongly urge societies to factor the One Act Play Festival into their season, the rewards are many on several levels. Results of this year’s festival are listed below. Thank you.
GMDF 2026 One Act Play Festival Winners
SECTION A (up to 14 years of age) – there were no Section A entrants this year
| Andrew Winton Trophy (Best Performance) |
| Brenda Gillatt Trophy (Best Production) |
| Certificate of Merit |
SECTION B (15 to 18 years of age)
| Nan Nuttall Trophy (Best Production) |
| ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors’ by Brookdale Youth Theatre |
| Bertram Holland Trophy (Best Performance) |
| Megan Owen for ‘Dorothy’ in Brookdale Youth Theatre’s production of ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors’ |
| Certificate of Merit |
| See Below |
SECTION C – Adult
| Settlement Players Trophy (Best Production) |
| ‘Tigers’ by Red Onion |
| Stanley Harrower Cup (Best Performance) |
| Heather Braddock and Derek Snowdon for ‘Mam and Dad in Woodford Player’s production of ‘Say Something Happened” |
| Certificate of Merit |
Victor Lockhart for ‘DJ’ in the Partington Players’ production of Lentils.’ Cat Hunter for ‘Daniella’ in the Mokushla Theatre’s production of ‘ Elephant Juice’ |
ALL SECTIONS
| Vicki Lane Award (Meritorious Director) |
| Samantha Moores for ‘Tigers’ by Red Onion |
| Robert L Goodwin Trophy (Outstanding Actor) |
| Peter Merral and Ted Grand for ‘Robert and Bob’ in Red Onion’s production of ‘Tigers’ |
| Cyril V Hines Trophy (Outstanding Actress) |
| Gemma Wilson and Annie Winch for ‘Jude and Susie in MADS Theatre Macclesfield’s production of ‘Pramkicker’ |
| Julie Emmanuel Trophy (Best Comedy Performance) |
| Ian Wilkinson for ‘Edward’ in Players Theatre’s production of ‘Chances in the Rain’ |
| Certificate of Merit for comedy performance |
Claire Romagnoli for ‘June’ in Woodford Players’ production of ‘Say Something Happened’ Matthew Ridgeway for ‘Dewey’ in Brookdale Youth Theatre’s production of ‘‘When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors’ Josh Burns for ‘Scarecrow’ in ‘Brookdale Youth Theatre’s production of ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors’ Evan Stericker for ‘Yuma and Tommy’ in Manchester Theatre Academy’s production of ‘The Audition’ Izzy Sinclair for ‘Sarah’ in Manchester Theatre Academy’s production of ‘The Audition’ |
| Cliff Walker Trophy (Best Presentation) |
| Brookdale Youth Theatre for the costumes in their production of ‘ ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors’ |
| Theatre Royal Trophy (Adudicators Award) |
| The cast of ‘Isolation’ by Next Gen Mossley AODS |
SECTION D (Original Play)
Playwright’s Workshop Trophy
| Brian Hutchinson for ‘Tigers’ |
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