The All-England Theatre Festival Rules

A: ENTRY

A. 1. Each company taking past must consist of members of a bona fide amateur society which has a regular existence apart from the festival. All players must be amateur: for this purpose, those who have been engaged as a professional performer within the last two years prior to the festival, shall not be deemed to be amateurs. It is permissible for an entrant society to engage the services of a professional Producer or Director.

A. 2. Dramatic schools conducted for the training of professional actors are not eligible to enter.

A. 3. There are two methods of entry into the National Festival:

(a) Through a local festival organised by a local committee of the All England Theatre Festival.

(b) Through a local festival organised by an independent body which has been incorporated into the National Festival by permission of the Committee in whose Area it occurs.

Both of these are stage one festivals. Any team may enter either of the above without opting to be selected to move into stage two and are entitled to receive an adjudication.

A. 4. Any company wishing to proceed into stage two, if selected to do so, must declare this wish on its entry form before giving any performance which may lead to a later stage of the festival. This particularly applies to companies taking part in independent festivals comprising preliminary rounds.

A. 5. Details of all plays for stage one must be submitted to the organisers in advance of the performance whenever requested. The organisers will call upon each company to produce a copy of the script. The stage one secretary and one of the representatives on divisional committee will be responsible for reading the scripts. If in the view of the secretary or representative the play may cause offence it may be (a) barred from performance (b) accepted on a restricted non-opting basis (c) referred to the organisers of the next round for decision.

A full meeting of the Divisional Committee must be called to make a ruling about the play and the company involved must be given the opportunity to argue its case. Any decision that a play is unsuitable must be announced at least a week prior to its intended Stage one performance. The Divisional Committee's decision is final.

A. 6. Each company must enter through the local festival approved for its District as laid down in the AETF (Area ) rules. Except where special permission is given, no entry in any other Stage One festival shall be valid.

A. 7. Except where special permission is given, no company can be eligible for promotion to a stage two festival outside the Division in which it normally operates: nor may it enter the same work and opt to be selected for stage two in more than one stage one festival.

A. 8. No company shall be allowed to enter the same work in the festival more than once in a period of five years.

A. 9. Each company will be subject in stage one to the rules governing its approved local festival, providing these are compatible with the National rules. All companies in stage two are subject to the National rules, and to the subsidiary regulations made by the Area and Divisional Committees of the All England Theatre Festival.

A. 10. A society may enter any number of companies in the festival, but, except by special licence of the appropriate Area Committee of the All England Theatre Festival, only one of these shall be eligible to proceed into stage two.

NOTE: Difficulty and unnecessary expense has been caused in the past by companies who, without cause, have withdrawn from the Festival after their entries were accepted. Companies are reminded that by entering they have undertaken a contract to give a public performance and they are expected to appear, even though, for example, a principal part may have to be read. Where a divisional committee is of the opinion that the company has withdrawn without adequate reason the Area Committee may decide that the society concerned shall be banned from future festivals or admitted upon special terms.

B : THE PERFORMANCE

B. 1. The work offered by any entrant must include a minimum of two speaking parts on stage and be (a) A one-act play, (b) An extract from a longer play, provided that this extract is intelligible to a member of the audience who has not seen the play from which it is taken, or (c) Some other form of theatrical performance. (Spoken or printed synopses are not permissible)

B. 2. Each entry must be at least twenty minutes in length but must not exceed the time of fifty-five minutes in performance, including any time spent in changing a scene in the course of that performance (but not include the specific times for setting and striking the whole production). Curtain calls are not permitted.

B. 3. No entry may take more than ten minutes to set and five minutes to strike. These times are additional to the playing time allowed in rule B2. However if a set up and/or strike is intended to set mood, establish character or entertain the audience in any way, this time is considered as part of the 55 minutes performance time. The number of backstage helpers may have to be limited in some cases where the nature of the venue requires this.

B. 4. Penalties for not keeping within the allotted times for performance (B2). setting or striking (B3) shall be as follows: Up to 1 minute over or under time 1 mark Up to 2 minutes over or under time 3 marks Up to 3 minutes over or under time 6 marks Up to 4 minutes over or under time 10 marks Up to 5 minutes over or under time 15 marks More than 5 minutes over or under time... Disqualification. Any team incurring penalty points for overrunning performance in three consecutive rounds of the festival shall be automatically disqualified. Entrants should note that the rule will be strictly enforced at all stages of the festival.

B. 5. At each festival the responsible committee will appoint an official Timekeeper who shall always use a stopwatch, and a Stage Director, whose decision on all backstage matters shall be final and binding on all companies.

B. 6. All entrants will be subject to the Theatre Act 1968 and entrants are deemed to have full knowledge of the provisions of this Act and the Liabilities thereunder concerning the performance of plays which might be considered obscene, seditious or libelous or likely to incite racial hatred or a breach of the peace.

B. 7. If the entry is copyright, it is the company's responsibility to see that the author's permission is obtained for performance. and that the royalty fee is paid in advance, The licence must be presented to the responsible festival committee. If the text has been altered in any way for the performance, proof of the author's permission must be provided.

B. 8. Without excluding the provisions of rule A. 5 each company is required to produce as least ten days before the festival in which it appears, a copy of its entry (in the version to be performed), or if the entry is an improvisation, a synopsis for use of the Adjudicator. The copy will be returned to the company after the festival. NOTE: Photocopies will not be acceptable unless prior permission has been obtained.

C: PRESENTATION

C. 1. In all Stage two Festivals, and those festivals in stage one directly organised by the All England Theatre Festival Committee, the responsible committee will provide the theatre with its stage lighting, the necessary organisation and one set of curtains.

C. 2. Scenery and properties of all descriptions, and any special lighting equipment required for their production, must be provided by the companies themselves. The use of such materials is subject to the sanction of the Committee at each stage. Fireproofing all materials and sets is the responsibility of the team.

C. 3. All companies may, where permission has been obtained from the responsible committee, bring such additional scenery as is considered essential for the production. Entrants should remember that the best setting will be the one which imaginatively presents the chosen work in the theatre. Box sets (i.e. completely enclosed sets constructed of flats standing independent of and unrelated to the curtain surround and/or cyclorama ) are not permissible.

C. 4. Companies must give advance notice to the responsible committee if they propose to use at their own expense, additional lighting equipment e.g. supplementary floods, spots etc. and also if their entry requires unusual effects or naked lights, pistol shots, etc. If it is found necessary to place limits on the proposals of companies in regard to such effects, the companies will be notified by the responsible committee, whose decision is final.

C. 5. The Stage Director, or an electrician appointed by the organising committee, will be responsible for the control of the switchboard and lighting equipment, under the direction of the stage manager or producer of each company.

C. 6. It will be the responsibility of each company to see that the lights are correctly set, that the curtain is raised and lowered at the proper time, that the scenery is correctly positioned and is set and struck within the allotted times.

C. 7. No team may use recorded speech or projection of film or TV material without the written consent of the responsible committee. Nor without such written consent must any part of a festival performance or adjudication be recorded, filmed or televised. Nor must any mechanical record be made of the adjudication without the permission of the adjudicator.

D: ADJUDICATION

D. 1. The adjudicator will deliver a public adjudication on each entry appearing at every festival - mindful of a duty to provide constructive criticism, which will help both the companies and the audience.

D. 2. The adjudication will select in each round of the stages the number of companies required by the organising committee to proceed into the next round.

D. 3. The adjudicator will announce the names of the companies selected to appear in the next round at the conclusion of the public adjudication. but will neither publicly divulge the marks nor the complete order of merit of the companies.

D. 4. The adjudicator will use as a guide the following system of marks: Acting - 40, Production - 35, Stage presentation - 15. Originality and Technical Attainment - 10.

D. 5. The adjudicators decision shall be final.

D. 6. In all festivals directed organised by All England Theatre Festival committees each entrant society may receive, at a fee a written report containing a summary of the adjudicator's criticisms of its performance. This report will only be provided if a written request is made beforehand, accompanied by the appropriate fee. The written report, besides showing the marks, will bear a letter A, B, C or D indicating the standard presented by the marks awarded. A - very good 75 or over, B good 60-74, C fair 40 - 59, D - under 40.

E: GENERAL

E. 1. The All England Theatre Festival Committees do not hold themselves responsible for any liability or for loss of or damage to scenery, costumes. properties, furniture or other theatrical equipment. Companies are advised to take out appropriate insurance cover.

E. 2. No one is allowed to perform in a play or be associated as director or in some similar capacity, with an entry in the National Festival in the same Theatre Festival or Area in which he or she is engaged as an adjudicator in any stage of the Festival.

E. 3. At each stage of the festival the committee responsible for that stage may disqualify any company infringing any of the foregoing rules. The adjudicator does not have the right to disqualify, and must submit any case to the committee, in which he or she sees cause for disqualification.

E. 4. In case of doubt or dispute as to the interpretation of these rules or in any matters not covered thereby, reference shall first be made to the body organising the festival concerned but the final court of appeal shall be the All England Theatre Festival Committee.

Published January 2000