This weekend I have been doing one of my favourite annual jobs, helping out at the Sudbury Festival of Music, Speech and Dance. This year I was given a new task writing out certificates. There seemed to be hordes of competitors, all aged between 8 and 16. It was very important not to make any mistakes! Little Polly and her Ma or Pa, are very well aware of the significance of Polly’s marks, and it doesn’t do to give out a certificate which says she has a ‘Merit’ if she actually scored a ‘Commended!’
Pictured above are Audrey Ewen from Little Waldingfield, who has been one of the leading lights of the Festival for some years now, plus some of the older competitors from the Solo Drama class with Ian Wilson, adjudicator for the weekend.
One of the best things about the speech classes is that you get the chance to enjoy lots of extracts from childhood favourites such as Alice and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe without friends and relations wondering when you will grow up! It is also interesting to see how children, and indeed people, of different ages respond to performing in public. The younger ones don’t seem to have to struggle with the self consciousness that suddenly afflicts those of us who are over 12!!
The Festival is a great plus for
