Natalia Quiros-Edmunds gives us a hint of what to expect from Durham Drama Festival 2019.
Celebrating its 45th year, Durham Drama Festival (DDF) is back! The festival celebrating all things dramatic will take place from the 3rd-10th February, with nine full-length original plays and five extracts all written, produced, designed and performed at venues around the city by Durham University students.
This year’s festival promises to be better than ever, and with a wide selection of genres ranging from profound drama and outrageous comedy, to the quietly philosophical and wildly experimental, there is guaranteed to be something for everyone.
The festival will also feature workshops, an outreach project, and an awards night to celebrate the winning pieces selected by an invited panel of industry professionals including a resident director for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Past DDF productions have gone on to secure performances at the Edinburgh Fringe and the National Student Drama Festival.
We speak to Charlie Whitehead, writer and director of Whatever Happened to Christopher Robin?, for an insight into her show.
Natalia Quiros-Edmunds (NQ): What inspired you to write for DDF?
Charlie Whitehead (CW): DDF has been running for years; it’s such a unique project to get incolved in and a fantastic opportunity to combine two of my favourite things: theatre and writing! Yay!
NQ: What’s your show about?
CW: It’s about Christopher Robin. I’ll say no more.
NQ: What has been your favourite part of the process?
CW: In all honesty, working with such an amazing cast and crew has been a real pleasure. Everyone has given it their all, they’ve done everything I expected and more, it’s been brilliant watching it come together, making the script come to life.
NQ: What has been the biggest challenge during rehearsals?
CW: There have been a few challenges…one of which has definitely been to capture Christopher’s gradual progression into insanity; striking the balance between the more humorous elements of the piece and the darker qualities and also, without a doubt, the short space of time to put on the show (only 3 weeks! Eek!)
Durham Drama Festival begins this week, with performances running from Wednesday 6th to Saturday 9th February in the Mark Hillery Arts Centre and Caedmon Hall. Tickets are available on the Durham Student Theatre website.