Hastings Musical Festival – Speech & Drama — A Festival Speech, Drama & Mime Section: Dramatic Monologue and Dramatic Duologue Across Nine Age Bands

Speech & Drama · United Kingdom

The Hastings Musical Festival (East Sussex, England, celebrating talent since 1908) Speech, Drama & Mime section, with real Dramatic Monologue and Dramatic Duologue classes across an age ladder from 7 years to Adult.

A ready-made speech and drama festival with two dramatic classes, Dramatic Monologue for one performer and Dramatic Duologue for pairs, run across nine age bands from 7 years up to Adult, with time limits of four to five minutes.

This template models the speech, drama and mime section of a seaside town music festival on the south coast of England, which runs its section over several days in late February. Children, teenagers and adults perform short scripted pieces in front of an adjudicator. It is built from the festival’s published 2027 syllabus, so the two classes, the age bands and the time limits are real, but dates, fees and entry conditions change every year and the current syllabus must be checked before the template is reused.

Two dramatic classes are modelled, both for non-Shakespeare material. Dramatic Monologue is an individual class in which one performer plays a single character from a scripted piece. Dramatic Duologue is a pair class in which two performers share a scene and enter as one team. Both are open to boys and girls and are performed in English. The festival also runs reading at sight, verse and prose speaking, Shakespeare classes, comedy, improvisation, short plays and mime, but those are not part of this template.

Entrants are placed by age, with the age taken on a fixed date shortly before the festival. Dramatic Monologue has the finer ladder, with single-year bands at 9, 10 and 11 and wider bands after that. Dramatic Duologue uses coarser bands in the syllabus, so this template splits it onto the same nine groups: 7 to 9, 9 to 10, 10 to 11, 11 to 12, 12 to 13, 13 to 14, 14 to 16, 16 to 19 and 19 and over. Monologue allows four minutes up to age 11 and five minutes from 11 upwards. Duologue allows four minutes up to age 13 and five minutes from 13 upwards.

The syllabus prints no points table that can be used as a criteria sheet, so every competition is scored out of a nominal 10 on a single mark and the template ships no criteria, grades or ranks. Entry fees are set to zero so each organiser can add their own. Organisers should tell entrants beforehand how characterisation, voice, and, for pairs, the interaction between the two performers will be weighed.

Where this event comes from

The speech, drama and mime section is one part of a long-running local music festival, with entries opening a few months before the late-February sections.

Where this event is run

Competitive speech and drama festivals are a long-standing tradition in the United Kingdom and in countries with a similar school system, including Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Canada. Local arts societies, schools and drama teachers run smaller versions of the same two-class format, with an adjudicator, a time limit by age and a single mark per performance.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Two competitions: Dramatic Monologue (individual) and Dramatic Duologue (pairs)
• Nine age groups from 7 to 9 up to 19 and over, shared by both items
• Open to boys and girls, performed in English, non-Shakespeare material
• Dramatic Monologue time limits: four minutes up to age 11, five minutes from 11 upwards
• Dramatic Duologue time limits: four minutes up to age 13, five minutes from 13 upwards
• Scored out of a nominal 10 on a single mark; no criteria, grades or ranks are printed, and fees and other speech families are not modelled

Age groups

9

Competition items

2

Competitions

18

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.

7-9 Years

7From

–

9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

9-10 Years

9From

–

10To

Candidates aged 9 to 10 compete in this group

10-11 Years

10From

–

11To

Candidates aged 10 to 11 compete in this group

11-12 Years

11From

–

12To

Candidates aged 11 to 12 compete in this group

12-13 Years

12From

–

13To

Candidates aged 12 to 13 compete in this group

13-14 Years

13From

–

14To

Candidates aged 13 to 14 compete in this group

14-16 Years

14From

–

16To

Candidates aged 14 to 16 compete in this group

16-19 Years

16From

–

19To

Candidates aged 16 to 19 compete in this group

19 & Over

19From

–

120To

Candidates aged 19 to 120 compete in this group

Competition items

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

Dramatic Monologue

ActionMarks

Dramatic Duologue

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 mono act judging criteria guide.