Theatre – Processed Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

The middle theatre class of the folklore split, where a team adapts traditional drama and customs for the stage while keeping the source recognisable, scored out of 10 across seven age divisions.

Theatre – Processed sits between the strict traditional class and the open one. A team starts from folk theatre, a village custom or a story handed down in the community, and prepares it for a stage audience: tightening the script, arranging the movement, adding lighting cues or a staged setting, while the origin of the material can still be recognised.

On the template it is a team item offered in seven divisions: Mini Kids (4 to 6), Kids (7 to 9), Children (10 to 13), Junior (14 to 17), Adults, Senior (50 and over) and a Mixed Age division. It is open to both genders, Polish is the language setting, each team receives a single score out of 10 as Marks, and results are ranked inside each division.

Teams are seen one at a time. A panel looking at a processed piece asks two questions together: does the adaptation work as theatre, with a clear shape, good pacing and a cast that plays as one group, and has the folk material survived the adaptation? A piece that is polished but has lost its tradition, or a faithful retelling with no staging thought behind it, each leave marks on the table.

Organisers include a processed class because many groups stage tradition for audiences rather than perform it as it was learned, and these groups need a place between the purist class and a free reinterpretation.

Where Theatre – Processed is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, an international folklore dance and music festival template based in Krakow, Poland, which offers each discipline in authentic, processed and styled forms. Staged adaptations of folk plays and customs appear in school, community and cultural festivals in many countries, but organisers draw the boundary with the authentic and styled classes differently, so the event notice is the final word.

• Poland (the festival the template is built from)

Key facts

• Team item on the template: each team is scored as a whole
• Seven divisions from Mini Kids (4-6) to Senior (50+), plus a Mixed Age division
• Open to both genders, scored out of 10 as Marks
• Language setting on the template is Polish
• No time limit is printed on the template, so the organiser’s notice sets the running time
• Second of three theatre classes: between Theatre – Authentic and Theatre – Styled

On eTalenter, Theatre – Processed is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Theatre – Processed is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 10.

What judges look at in Theatre – Processed

What a Theatre – Processed panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Stagecraft of the adaptation: a clear opening, build and ending that suit a stage audience
• Recognisable folk source: the custom, story or characters still read as traditional after adapting
• Ensemble playing: entrances, timing and cues that show the team has rehearsed as one group
• Voice, song and movement that carry to the audience while staying in keeping with the material
• Costume, set and props chosen to support the story rather than distract from it
• With one score out of 10 and no printed sub-criteria, the panel’s overall impression decides the result

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Theatre – Processed under Scoring Setup, or start from our judging and score tabulation guide.

How to prepare for Theatre – Processed

How entrants and their teachers usually get Theatre – Processed right on the day:

• Read the organiser’s notice for how much adaptation the class allows, and for any time limit, set or music rules
• Write down in a sentence what the traditional piece is and what you have changed for the stage, so the team shares one plan
• Cut and tighten before adding: remove any scene that does not move the story and keep the best-known moments of the custom
• Decide who stands where for each scene and mark entrances and exits so the stage never sits empty
• Rehearse at performance volume and pace in a space as large as the real stage
• Test costumes and any simple set pieces in a full run-through, and keep changes quick
• Enter the right age division, since each is ranked separately, and keep the piece within what the team can do cleanly
• After a loss, decide whether the adaptation weakened the tradition or the staging let the story down, and fix that one thing
• Ideas, not rules: a seasonal custom play shortened into a three-scene stage piece, a folk tale narrated by one player and acted by the rest, or a market-day scene built from traditional sayings and songs

Frequently asked questions

Is Theatre – Processed 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.

What is the difference between Theatre – Processed and Theatre – Authentic?

Authentic keeps the piece as it was handed down. Processed adapts it for the stage while keeping it recognisable. The template does not print exact definitions, so the organiser’s notice decides.

How is Theatre – Processed different from Theatre – Styled?

Styled allows the team to take the material furthest from its source. Processed stays closer to it. The template does not print the line between them, so check the event notice.

Is Theatre – Processed judged individually or as a team?

On the template it is a team item, so the whole team receives one score out of 10 as Marks.

Can I add music, lighting or a set in Theatre – Processed?

The template does not say. Whether recorded music, lighting cues or set pieces are allowed is for the organiser’s notice to state.

Want the full judging picture? Read our judging and score tabulation guide, or browse every on stage competition item.