Players hoping for an award at the prestigious National Drama Festival
16/07/2025
Rehearsals for “Goodbye Charles” have been underway since March
Banbury Cross Players are preparing for a performance at the National Drama Festival, which could see them win a prestigious award in a number of categories.
The festival is being held at the end of the month at the Artrix in Bromsgrove.
They will be performing their 45 minute play, “Goodbye Charles”, as one of 13 Festival Award entrants, with competing groups from The Netherlands, Guernsey, The Isle of Man, and elsewhere in England and Scotland.
The Players secured their place in the final after appearing at the Lighthorne Festival back in June. Their performance at the National Drama Festival will take place on July 31 with the winners announced at the end of the event.
“Goodbye Charles” is directed by Phil Wintle – a first time director for Banbury Cross Players – and features a cast of 5. It tells the story of a woman who is trying to track down her husband and, in doing so, she meets a number of strange characters and finds herself in a range of surreal situations.
Rehearsals have been underway since March, but the idea of performing “Goodbye Charles” as a competition entry dates back to before the pandemic.
The Players have high hopes for having received positive feedback and a high judging score when they qualified.
Adrian McGlynn, Banbury Cross Players’ Chairman said: “There’s huge excitement that we will be performing at the National Drama Festival, especially as this is our 80th year. It’s a serious competition and we have to be one of the favourites.”
The Banbury Cross Players was founded in 1945 and currently has 63 members.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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