Bedfordshire Festival – Dramatic Solos & Scenes — A Festival Drama Programme: Solos, Duologues and Musical Theatre Scenes by School Year

Speech & Drama · United Kingdom

The Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech & Drama’s dramatic acting classes (est. 1921): 7 real classes (Dramatic Solo, Duologues, Charles Dickens Solo/Duologue, Scene from Musical Theatre Solo/Pair/Group) across real UK school-year age bands, built from the festival’s own official 2027 syllabus.

A ready-made drama and speech festival section with seven acting classes: Dramatic Solo, Duologues, Charles Dickens Solo and Duologue, and Scene from Musical Theatre for a soloist, a pair or a group, entered in four school-year bands from Year 5-6 up to Year 11 and over.

This template models the dramatic acting section of an English music, speech and drama festival, the kind of annual event where children and young people perform in front of an adjudicator and receive marks and spoken feedback. It is built from the festival’s own 2027 syllabus, so the class families, the time limits and the school-year bands are real, but the syllabus should be checked again before the template is reused for a later year.

Seven competitions are carried: Dramatic Solo, Duologues, Charles Dickens Solo, Charles Dickens Duologue, and Scene from Musical Theatre in three versions (Solo, Pair and Group). Solo classes are entered by one performer; Duologues, the Dickens Duologue and the Pair and Group scenes are team entries. The syllabus is much larger than this section, so verse speaking, Shakespeare, mime, public speaking and the other speech classes are not modelled here.

Entrants are grouped by school year rather than by exact age: Year 5-6, Year 7-8, Year 9-10 and Year 11 and over, which the template converts to ages 9 to 11, 12 to 13, 14 to 15 and 16 upwards. Time limits grow with the band. A Dramatic Solo runs from 3 minutes in Year 5-6 to 6 minutes in Year 11 and over, and Duologues from 5 to 8 minutes. The Dickens classes have no Year 5-6 version in the syllabus, so that band is simply absent for them rather than invented, and the Musical Theatre scenes are a flat 6 minutes at every band.

The syllabus does not print a marking scheme, so each performance is scored out of 10 on a single mark and the template ships no criteria sheet. Class codes, entry fees, accompaniment arrangements, own-choice rules and adjudicator awards have no software field; publish them as written rules on the registration page if you want them followed.

Where this event comes from

Competitive festivals of speech and drama have been part of English cultural life since the early twentieth century, and many local festivals, including the one this template follows, have run every year since the 1920s.

Where this event is run

Speech and drama festivals of this kind are run across the United Kingdom, Ireland and parts of the Commonwealth, usually over several days in a town hall or theatre, with classes for solo and ensemble acting arranged by school year. Drama clubs, stage schools and school drama departments prepare entrants for them.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Seven competitions: Dramatic Solo, Duologues, Charles Dickens Solo, Charles Dickens Duologue, and Scene from Musical Theatre as Solo, Pair and Group
• Four school-year bands: Year 5-6 (ages 9 to 11), Year 7-8 (12 to 13), Year 9-10 (14 to 15) and Year 11 and over (16 upwards)
• Open to boys and girls, performed in English
• Time limits rise with the band: Dramatic Solo 3 to 6 minutes, Duologues 5 to 8 minutes, Musical Theatre scenes a flat 6 minutes
• The Dickens classes have no Year 5-6 version in the source syllabus, so that band is left out for them
• Scored out of 10 on a single mark; fees, class codes and awards are not modelled

Age groups

4

Competition items

7

Competitions

26

Grade bands

0

Rank awards

0

Age groups

Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.

Year 5-6

9From

–

11To

Candidates aged 9 to 11 compete in this group

Year 7-8

12From

–

13To

Candidates aged 12 to 13 compete in this group

Year 9-10

14From

–

15To

Candidates aged 14 to 15 compete in this group

Year 11 & over

16From

–

120To

Candidates aged 16 to 120 compete in this group

Competition items

The events themselves — each with the category it belongs to and how judges score it.

Dramatic Solo

ActionMarks

Duologues

ActionMarks

Charles Dickens Solo

ActionMarks

Charles Dickens Duologue

ActionMarks

Scene from Musical Theatre - Solo

ActionMarks

Scene from Musical Theatre - Pair

ActionMarks

Scene from Musical Theatre - Group

ActionMarks

Frequently asked questions

Can I change this template after installing it?

Yes — installing it creates a fully configured, live event, not a locked package. Every age group, competition item, rule and scoring setting can be edited afterwards to match exactly what your event actually needs.

Do I need technical knowledge to set this up?

No. Installing a template does the setup work for you; you only need to review the details (dates, unit or house names) and open registration.

Want the fuller picture first? See our guide to judge scoring and tabulation guide.