Mid Somerset Festival – Acting — A Festival Acting Section: Solo and Duo Classes Across an Eight-Step School-Year Ladder

Speech & Drama · United Kingdom

The Mid Somerset Festival’s Speech & Drama Acting classes: 2 real classes (Solo Acting, Duo Acting) across a real single-year age ladder, built from the festival’s own official 2027 syllabus.

A ready-made speech and drama festival section with two acting classes, Solo Acting for individuals and Duo Acting for pairs, run across eight school-year groups from Year 4 and under to Age 21 and under, with a three- to five-minute limit on each performance.

This template models the acting classes of an English spring festival held in a historic spa city, where children, teenagers and young adults perform short dramatic pieces before an adjudicator. It is built from the festival’s 2027 combined syllabus, so the class structure, age ladder and 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 competitions are published. Solo Acting is an individual class in which one performer presents a single dramatic piece. Duo Acting is a team-of-two class in which a pair share a scene. Both are open to boys and girls and are performed in English. The syllabus does not allow costume in these classes; plain practice clothing and a minimum of hand props are expected, so the performance has to be carried by voice, movement and characterisation.

Entrants are sorted by school year as at 31 August before the festival. The template uses eight groups: Year 4 and under, Years 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 as single-year groups, Years 10 and 11 together, and Age 21 and under. Solo Acting runs for three minutes from Year 4 and under to Year 7 and four minutes from Year 8 upwards. Duo Acting allows four minutes in the younger groups and five minutes from Year 8 upwards. Because the syllabus publishes Duo Acting in fewer, cumulative age bands than Solo Acting, the two youngest Solo years are merged into one group and Years 10 and 11 are merged, so the single ladder fits both classes.

The syllabus prints no points table, so each performance is scored out of 10 on a single mark and the template carries no criteria sheet, grades or ranks. Entry fees are set to zero so that each organiser can add their own. Other speech and drama classes in the same festival, such as verse speaking, mime and Shakespeare, are not part of this template.

Where this event comes from

The Speech & Drama days are one part of a wider multi-discipline festival that runs for about two weeks each March.

Where this event is run

Competitive festivals of speech and drama are a long-standing tradition in the United Kingdom and in countries with a similar school-year system, including Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Canada. Schools, drama teachers and local arts societies run smaller versions of the same two-class format with an adjudicator and short time limits.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Two competitions: Solo Acting (individual) and Duo Acting (pair)
• Eight age groups by school year: Year 4 and under, Years 5 to 9 singly, Years 10 and 11 together, and Age 21 and under
• Open to boys and girls, performed in English; no costume allowed
• Time limits: Solo Acting three minutes to Year 7 then four; Duo Acting four minutes to Year 7 then five
• Scored out of 10 on a single mark; no criteria, grades or ranks are printed
• Fees, other speech and drama classes and adjudicator remarks are not modelled

Age groups

8

Competition items

2

Competitions

16

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 4 & Under

4From

–

9To

Candidates aged 4 to 9 compete in this group

Year 5

10From

–

10To

Candidates aged 10 to 10 compete in this group

Year 6

11From

–

11To

Candidates aged 11 to 11 compete in this group

Year 7

12From

–

12To

Candidates aged 12 to 12 compete in this group

Year 8

13From

–

13To

Candidates aged 13 to 13 compete in this group

Year 9

14From

–

14To

Candidates aged 14 to 14 compete in this group

Years 10 & 11

15From

–

16To

Candidates aged 15 to 16 compete in this group

Age 21 & Under

17From

–

21To

Candidates aged 17 to 21 compete in this group

Competition items

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

Solo Acting

ActionMarks

Duo Acting

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.