An acted stage piece, from a short character solo to a ten-minute team play, judged on characterisation, voice, movement and how clearly the story is told.
Drama, in a competition programme, is acting that stands on its own: a performer or a small company takes a scripted scene, plays it for a panel and an audience, and is marked on how convincingly the people and the story come to life. It is distinct from a comic skit, which leans on a quick joke, and from mime, which removes the voice. A drama entry has to make an audience believe in a situation, whether that is a quarrel between two characters, a moment of decision, or a short complete play.
The item is not one fixed format, and the eTalenter templates show three of them. In the Scottish Gaelic festival template it is a Team entry across ten bands (P1-P3, P4-P5, P6-P7, 11-12 Secondary, 13-15, 16-18, then Senior Ladies, Senior Men, Senior Mixed and Senior Open), every class in Scottish Gaelic, with a ten-minute ceiling and a maximum of 100 shown as a rating out of 10. In a national eisteddfod speech and drama template from Australia it is a character solo in English, run in six age classes with the time limit stretching from two minutes for the youngest to six for the Open class. In a Canadian music festival’s speech arts template it is an individual English class in five age bands, each with a five-minute limit. The UAE kalotsavam template carries it as a single regional Group-Senior team class of thirty minutes.
A round is simple to describe and hard to do well. The performer or company is called, takes the stage, sets up quickly with whatever the rules allow, and plays the piece within the time limit. There is no accompaniment to lean on, so a weak line, a rushed ending or a character who stops listening to the others is heard and seen by everyone. The adjudicator watches the whole piece and then writes up what worked and what did not; in the Gaelic template’s festival rules the adjudication sheets go to entrants and the adjudicator’s decision is final.
Organisers run a drama class because it brings reading, voice, movement and teamwork into one item. A school can use it to give a whole class a stage role, a community festival can use it to bring generations together on one bill, and a regional kalotsavam can use it to settle a regional title with one large team entry. For entrants, it is often the first time they learn that acting is as much listening as speaking.
Where Drama is run
On the eTalenter templates Drama is used in four: a Scottish Gaelic national festival template (Scotland), a national eisteddfod speech and drama template (Australia), a Canadian music festival’s speech arts template, and a regional kalotsavam template for a Kerala diaspora community in the United Arab Emirates. Each carries a different shape of the item, which is why this page describes all of them rather than a single standard. Drama competitions in general are staple classes in eisteddfodau, speech and drama festivals, youth arts festivals and school drama leagues in many countries; this page claims only the four templates above.
- Scotland, United Kingdom
- Australia
- Canada
- United Arab Emirates
Key facts
- Scottish Gaelic festival template: Team entry, ten bands from P1-P3 to Senior Open, every class in Scottish Gaelic, ten-minute ceiling and a /100 maximum shown as a rating out of 10 (app defaults, because the rules print no numeric scheme)
- National eisteddfod template from Australia: individual character solo in English, six age classes from 8 Years and Under to Open 17+, with the time limit rising from two to six minutes
- Canadian speech arts template: individual English class in five age bands (10 and under, 11-13 Junior, Intermediate, Senior, Open), five minutes each
- UAE kalotsavam template: a single Group-Senior team class of thirty minutes, one team per region, with seven performers on stage and three backstage
- Scoring varies by template: Marks out of 10 in the Australian and Canadian templates, a rating out of 10 on a 100 maximum in the Gaelic one, and marks out of 100 in the UAE one
- Gender is Both in nearly every class; the Gaelic Senior Ladies class is a female cast and Senior Men a male cast
On eTalenter, Drama is filed under Action, On Stage and typically scored with Marks, Rating out of 10. It appears in 4 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Drama is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 2–30 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Drama
What a Drama panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Characterisation: whether each role feels like a particular person, with a clear want and a believable way of speaking and moving, rather than a copy of a stock type
- Voice and diction: projection that reaches the back of the hall, pace that suits the scene, and, in the Gaelic template, clean spoken Gaelic that the panel and audience can follow
- Movement and use of the stage: purposeful entrances, exits and groupings, with nobody crowding the stage or turning their back on the audience without a reason
- Listening and ensemble work in team classes: actors who react to each other’s lines and take their cues cleanly, so the scene breathes instead of running as separate speeches
- Story and shape: a beginning, a turn and an ending that fit inside the time limit, with the final moment landing clearly instead of trailing off
- Time discipline: finishing inside the ceiling for the class, because an overrun can cost marks however strong the acting is
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Drama under Scoring Setup, or start from the full drama & skit judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Drama
How entrants and their teachers usually get Drama right on the day:
- Choose a scene that fits the cast and the clock: a short piece played precisely scores better than an ambitious one that is cut off by the timekeeper
- Read the script aloud as a group before blocking it, and agree what each character wants from the others in every scene, so the acting has a reason behind it
- Rehearse with a stopwatch from the first week and cut the script, not the pauses, if it runs long; mark where you will lose time if someone forgets a line
- Block the stage on the actual floor size, or a taped-out copy of it, and practise entrances, exits and freezes so the set-up takes seconds on the day
- In team classes, spend rehearsals on cues and reactions rather than only on your own lines; run the scene with one actor deliberately made late to learn how to recover
- Practise projecting without shouting: have a friend at the far end of the room tell you which lines they could not hear, and fix those first
- Check the festival notice for the time limit, the language of the class, rules on costume, props and music, and whether the script has to be supplied in advance
Ready-made event templates that include Drama
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian National Eisteddfod – Drama | Action | Marks | 6 |
| Royal National Mod (Scotland) | On Stage | Rating out of 10 | 10 |
| Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festivals – Speech Arts | Action | Marks | 5 |
| Yuvakalasahithy UAE Kalotsavam | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Drama judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Is Drama the same as a skit?
No. A skit is usually light and quick and depends on a punchline or a comic idea. A drama piece can be serious or funny, but it is judged on character, story and acting craft over the full time limit. The eTalenter templates keep Drama and Skit as separate items.
Is Drama a solo or a team item?
It depends on the template. It is a Team entry in the Scottish Gaelic and UAE templates, and an individual character solo in the Australian and Canadian ones. Check the class in your own event before you cast it.
How long can a drama piece run?
The ceiling in the templates ranges from two minutes for the youngest solo class up to six minutes in the Australian solos, five minutes in the Canadian classes, ten minutes in the Gaelic team classes and thirty minutes in the UAE regional class. Your event’s notice sets the limit that applies.
Can we use props, costumes or backing music?
The templates do not set a rule on this. Most festivals allow simple costumes and a few props, and some restrict music or sound effects, so confirm with the organiser before you build the piece around them.
How is a drama judged if there is no printed scoring scheme?
Where the festival rules publish no scheme, as with the Gaelic template, the template uses a rating out of 10 on a 100 maximum, and the adjudicator’s written sheet explains the result. Organisers can adjust the scoring label to match their own rules.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full drama & skit judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.
Try Drama in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Drama, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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