Dear Friends,

 We are looking forward immensely to this year’s returning Lighthorne Festival of One-Act Plays!

The omens appear good. Dramatically, we have been over-subscribed this year.

The Festival feel is slightly different. The big-hitting touring groups – attracted by the biggest prize in UK amateur theatre – are absent and in their place an abundance of local groups, hopefully bringing their local support.

The Running Order tops the “News” section on the website.

Planning has also felt a bit different. This Festival has not run “normally” since 2019. The years 2020 and 2021 were lost to COVID and in 2022 we were still in nervous recovery from it. In 2023 key personnel were unavoidably missing as Committee members worked heroically to do their own jobs as well as cover the gaps. And last year we did not run at all.

But here we are in 2025, back again, and aiming to recapture the indefinable spirit which has made the Lighthorne Festival such a success story, as music and drama festivals nationwide have collapsed.

It has felt like a re-launch and a reconstituted Committee has rightly re-examined everything we do.

As many will know, we surveyed our core supporters earlier this year, asking to what extent the food element was key. The response was nuanced. A majority said food was not critical. But, for a significant minority, for whom a sociable hot meal was important, it was very important.

In a great British compromise, we are offering hot snacks of pasties, samosas, wraps and sausage rolls, with veggie alternatives, different on each night, but all from trusted local supplier Eastwood Farm, Shenington, and included in a reduced ticket price of £16.

We have retained our café style and our format is otherwise unchanged.

And now, dear friends, it is up to you !  Can we rediscover the atmosphere, the MAGIC which has been the hallmark of this Festival over the last dozen years ? Only if you turn out to support it, and bring your friends.

It would be nice to think that, of an early-summer’s eve, you will return here to our welcoming little village, sniff the atmosphere, and breathe: ”Ah! THIS is what I have missed!”

Booking opens Monday April 28. See Ticketing Information on website.

With very best wishes,

Rod.

Rod Chaytor

Lighthorne

April 2025

The Lighthorne Festival of One-Act Plays