Nicola Dixon (left) as The Manager and Almira Brion (right) as Emma in Banbury Cross Players’ production of the dystopian drama “Contractions” by Mike Bartlett, which won the 2019 Lighthorne Festival of One-Act Plays. Picture Peter Weston.
A North Oxfordshire theatre group has won the 2019 Lighthorne Festival of One-Act Plays with a chilling “Orwellian” drama about an employer brainwashing a young female employee.
The play, “Contractions” by Mike Bartlett, portrays a young saleswoman, Emma, played by Almira Brion, who has her life and eventually her mind taken over by her boss. The all-female two-hander features a convincingly robotic performance from Nicola Dixon as the firm’s HR manager.
The Banbury Cross Players’ winning production was directed by Chrissie Garrett and produced by June Ronson.
As a result of winning the Lighthorne Festival of One-Act Plays, the production been selected for the National Drama Festivals Association’s British All-Winners Finals which will be held in Woking, Surrey, in July 2019.
BCP were given a score of 87 out of a possible 100 by adjudicator Mike Kaiser, a member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators.
They just pipped the Black Country Hollybush Arts Group from Cradley Heath who scored 86 to take second place.
Almira Brion, who played Emma, Nicola Dixon who played The Manager together with Banbury Cross Players director, Chrissie Garrett, receiving the Lighthorne Festival trophy from adjudicator Mike Kaiser, GoDA. Picture Peter Weston.
Ginny Davis from Wellesbourne came third with a one-woman show, in which she plays eight parts, and in fourth place was the Caramba Theatre Company of Stratford-on-Avon. Caramba were the Lighthorne Festival’s inaugural winners in 2013.
All the top four groups scored over 80, which is considered to be the GoDA benchmark of excellence.
Rod Chaytor, Chairman of The Lighthorne Festival of One-Act Plays, said: “Banbury Cross Players were the very first group to sign up to the idea of a Lighthorne Festival when we first began to canvass quality local theatre groups back in 2012, and we will always be grateful for that initial support.
“In addition, they are one of only three teams to have entered every Lighthorne Festival since its inception in 2013, and we are therefore doubly grateful to them for their ongoing loyalty.
“It was therefore an absolute delight to see them take the Lighthorne Trophy this year and with a production which merited it, one hundred percent.
“Part of our founding ethos was that we wanted to see good local groups learn and grow from each other by virtue of the Lighthorne Festival, and, to their great credit, BCP have done exactly that. It has been a pleasure to watch them develop over the last six years. The Director, Chrissie Garrett, had clearly put hours of work into planning and preparation and had paid huge attention to detail. The two actors performed their roles brilliantly. It was a a great show.
“We are thrilled that BCP have now been selected for the National Drama Festival Association’s British All-Winners Finals in Woking next month. We will be there to support them, and wish them every good fortune in their attempt to become national champions.”