History of St Paul's Drama Group
Re-formed in August 1962 from a small Church Society founded in 1956, the
St Paul's Drama Group in Nork, Banstead has now grown to a membership of over a hundred. Since 1962 the Group, apart from numerous social activities, has produced two three-act plays each year,
together with a trio of one-act plays.
In order to enhance its playing abilities, the Group decided in 1965 to
participate in the BTA One-Act Festival. St Paul's has always enjoyed taking part in various competitions, currently in the All England Theatre Festival and previously in the South East of England Festival of Drama (SEEFOD) which used to take place at the Harlequin Theatre, Redhill. This was, at the time, a highly prestigious annual event, the only one of its kind in the South East, in which societies throughout the region competed with full-length productions.
The fact that they won the coveted title of the SEEFOD Festival three times with plays as diverse as the non-stop comedy 'Daisy Pulls It Off', Lorca's tragic 'Blood Wedding' and Rattigan's courtroom drama 'Cause Célèbre' underlines their versatility as well as their ability.
St Paul's Drama Group also compete in the All England Drama Festival
and have often won through to the Divisional Final,
reaching the Eastern England Area Final several times.
As you will see from the Awards and Achievements page,
St Paul's is still a force to be reckoned with,
having won many accolades in the All England Theatre Festivals.
A strong student section was formed around 1973 which has several times won the Reigate and Banstead Youth Drama Festival; the 16-21 year olds went on to win the Surrey County Senior Youth Finals and have taken Scrolls for the best individual performance while the under 16s have won the Junior County Finals and best individual performance Scrolls and has participated in the Ronson Youth Drama Festivals.