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As part of our 50th Anniversary year we launched a One Act Play competition to find a new play to be performed alongside a rehearsed reading of our very first production ‘Pop Goes the Patient’. The closing date for entries was midnight on Friday 5th June.  Shortly before that deadline we received our 294th submission.

The competition has been amazingly successful with entries from all over the world, several from America, as well as Russia and Canada. We have also received entries from Cornwall and across the UK including one from New Zealand from a writer having to see out the pandemic there whose home is Falmouth.

Entries have come from established professional writers as well as amateurs and for some it is their first attempt at writing a play. Several entries have made the point of how much they appreciated the opportunity in these uncertain times.

The judging team from CDDG will now be completing their reading and assessing all 294 submissions with a view to selecting 14 finalists from whom our winner will be chosen by a panel made up of Managers at Waterstones, Truro, a local author and myself.

In the light of the number of entrants I expect the judging process to be completed in July 2020. At that time we will, in the light of where we are with Covid 19, be making further announcements about production plans.

Sisterly Feelings Monday May 18th Opening night transferred from Minack to Zoom.

I was very pleased with the way our virtual reading went and super proud of everyone who took part with special thanks to Zoe and Ethan the backstage team.

I think we have learned a lot. Virtual backgrounds and how to control them. Entrances and Exits how to make them look smooth. The use of co-hosts to support if there is a technical problem with audience or cast. It enabled us very smoothly to readmit those who lost connection.

All in all a very worthwhile event and a good celebration of what would have been a perfect opening night at a sunny Minack.

I have added to this some thought and comments from cast and audience.

John

If you’d asked me three months ago what I would be doing on the evening of May 18th I’d have been confident of the answer – carefully eyeing the skies and praying for decent weather for the opening night of Sisterly Feelings at the Minack.

In my wildest fantasies I would never have contemplated performing my part in the solitude of my own bedroom, aided and abetted by a virtual cast and before a virtual audience. Yet owing to a bizarre combination of a global pandemic and the wonders of modern technology that is exactly
what transpired (and we must not forget dear Johnny whose mad idea this was!).

The fact that this was pulled off so successfully owes much to the Zoom software, which I’d never heard of before April. So this was a steep learning curve for me, with knowledge being acquired both before and during the performance! My bête noire was the Virtual Background – I could only make this work by pointing the laptop camera at the white ceiling and looking down into said camera to deliver lines (even this failed when the natural light faded at around 8.30, and once again I became a ghostly apparition).

Entrances and exits were an interesting challenge, particularly in the cross-country race scene, where I would have been (and hopefully will be in 2021) haring around the stage in all directions. I’m convinced I felt more exhausted after Monday than I would have at Porthcurno. Props were, to quote Jeeves from another show, ‘mostly imagined or representational’. This involved my daughter Cathy launching sandwiches on to my picnic plate from behind my laptop (blink and you missed it), as well as clipboards, stopwatches etc. Sadly our long-suffering audience were deprived Constable Murphy ‘handing’ me a loud hailer – that scene fell victim to the random choices in the script.

Thanks to all of our wonderful cast for throwing themselves into this venture, especially Chris and Nick who replaced original cast members at short notice. The backstage team were as active as they would have been in a live show – I think we have Ethan and Zoe to thank for this – and we must not forget John’s boundless enthusiasm in putting the whole thing together. We also thank the Zoom audience (14, I believe – I’ve played to fewer in real life) for getting into the spirit of the project and for their kind feedback after the show.

We fervently hope that in twelve months these strange times will be behind us and that we will be celebrating a more conventional success story on a real stage. Nonetheless, this unique performance will be a delightful memory when I sit back and recall the special moments I have been privileged to enjoy with CDDG.

Simon

Please give my congratulations to all involved in “Sisterly Feelings”. It’s not a play that I am familiar with, but it kept my attention throughout. I thought it was amazing to get the reactions between characters when they were not even in the same room!

Angela

It was a rather strange occasion, we should have been at the Minack, but … we know the rest. It was the first time we had tried to do anything like that and I think we learnt a lot from the exercise, especially about lighting and virtual backgrounds.

Mark

When you are next in touch with cast and crew of Sisterly Feelings, please tell them that I thought they did a stirling job on Monday.

Ann

That was a lot of fun. Thank you everyone…its so lovely to keep in touch.

Kate

New experience. Prefer reality but good to see everyone.

Jon

Really enjoyed that John, so glad I joined can’t wait for the real deal.

Amelia

I thought everyone did really well considering the limitations and difficulties of using technology for a live theatre event. Characters emerged and the story was clear from the start. You could tell it was going to be a great show at the Minack for all.

Charlie

Great performances from all the cast and very cleverly adapted to zoom- it didn’t feel like just another zoom catchup but felt like an ‘event’ with the use of tech, excellent work by all! Looking forward to seeing it at the Minack next year!

Dylan

As part of our 50th celebration we are launching a competition to find a new one act play to be performed 1st to 3rd Oct and 10th Oct. The competition is open to all; both members and non-members.

Apart from the special reward of seeing your work performed there will also be a cash prize of £100 plus a script consultation with Victoria Ferguson to the winning playwright. Closing date for submissions Friday June 5th 2020 (Terms and conditions apply) As long as it has never been performed before it will qualify. All welcome from 16 years to 100 plus.

The winner will receive £100 cash and a script consultation with Victoria Ferguson to help develop their script and discuss careers in scriptwriting.

Victoria is a writer and script editor, and was the coordinator for the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition. She collaborates with emerging and established writers to develop their scripts for the stage and screen, and is currently working with production companies including Drama Republic (Doctor Foster), New Pictures (COBRA) and 42 M&P (Military Wives) to find projects to develop for film and TV.

So, let the creative juices flow.

Please email your entries to j-frankland@hotmail.co.uk