Blog

Portsmouth Festival – Speech & Drama — A Festival Speech & Drama Section: Acting Monologue and Acting Duologue Across Six Age Bands

Portsmouth Festival - Speech & Drama: The Portsmouth Festival of Performing Arts (Hampshire, England) Speech & Drama section, with real Acting Monologue...

e By Luke Justin October 29, 2026 3 min read

New here? Start with the basicsAge groups, competition categories and how to set up your event.

Speech & Drama · United Kingdom

The Portsmouth Festival of Performing Arts (Hampshire, England) Speech & Drama section, with real Acting Monologue and Acting Duologue classes sharing an identical age ladder from 6-8 years to Adult.

A ready-made speech and drama festival with two acting classes, Acting Monologue for one performer and Acting Duologue for pairs, run across six age bands from 6 to 8 years up to Adult, with time limits that grow from three to five minutes.

This template models the speech and drama section of a city performing arts festival on the south coast of England, held on a single day in early 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 acting classes are modelled. Acting Monologue is an individual class in which one performer plays a single character from a scripted piece. Acting Duologue is a pair class in which two performers share a scripted scene as one entry. Both are open to boys and girls and are performed in English. The festival also runs other speech families, such as nursery rhyme, verse speaking, prose reading, Shakespeare solo and group scenes, but those are not part of this template.

Entrants are placed by age band: 6 to 8, 9 to 11, 12 to 14, 15 to 16, 17 to 18 and Adult. Both items share exactly the same ladder. Acting Monologue allows three minutes for ages 6 to 8 and 9 to 11, four minutes for 12 to 14 and five minutes from 15 upwards. Acting Duologue allows three minutes for ages 6 to 8, four minutes for 9 to 11 and 12 to 14, and five minutes from 15 upwards. There is no class for children under six in these two items.

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

Where this event comes from

The speech and drama section runs as one festival day each winter, with the 2027 edition scheduled for early February.

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: Acting Monologue (individual) and Acting Duologue (pairs)
Six age bands: 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-16, 17-18 and Adult, identical for both items
Open to boys and girls, performed in English
Acting Monologue time limits: three minutes up to age 11, four minutes for 12-14, five minutes from 15 upwards
Acting Duologue time limits: three minutes for 6-8, four minutes for 9-14, five minutes from 15 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: 6
Competition items: 2
Competitions: 12
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.

6-8 Years

6From

–

8To

Candidates aged 6 to 8 compete in this group

9-11 Years

9From

–

11To

Candidates aged 9 to 11 compete in this group

12-14 Years

12From

–

14To

Candidates aged 12 to 14 compete in this group

15-16 Years

15From

–

16To

Candidates aged 15 to 16 compete in this group

17-18 Years

17From

–

18To

Candidates aged 17 to 18 compete in this group

Adult

18From

–

120To

Candidates aged 18 to 120 compete in this group

Competition items

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

Acting Monologue

ActionMarks

Acting Duologue

ActionMarks

Competitions by group

The full schedule matrix, sectioned by age group then category — which item runs for whom, and for how long.

Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
6-8 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Acting Monologue	Individual	—	English	10	3 min
Acting Duologue	Team	—	English	10	3 min
9-11 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Acting Monologue	Individual	—	English	10	3 min
Acting Duologue	Team	—	English	10	4 min
12-14 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Acting Monologue	Individual	—	English	10	4 min
Acting Duologue	Team	—	English	10	4 min
15-16 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Acting Monologue	Individual	—	English	10	5 min
Acting Duologue	Team	—	English	10	5 min
17-18 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Acting Monologue	Individual	—	English	10	5 min
Acting Duologue	Team	—	English	10	5 min
Adult
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Acting Monologue	Individual	—	English	10	5 min
Acting Duologue	Team	—	English	10	5 min

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.