Durham’s annual Drama Festival went ahead this year, despite lockdown restrictions. The Festival celebrated its 47th anniversary, with all of the performances online, rather than on the stage.

Durham Drama Festival 2021 presented nine brand new plays written by our students. The aim was to showcase the wealth of creative talent among our students and encourage participation in theatre in any capacity. Entirely student-run and produced, the festival provided an unparalleled chance for student theatre makers to have their work critiqued and developed by professionals.

I am proud of the fact that when the arts world was forced into silence, we, the next generation of theatre makers and creatives, were still able to use our voices to express the stories that matter to us. I introduced a theme for the festival: “radical voices for radical times” to help inspire our writers to reflect on our generation’s relationship to an increasingly strained and polarised society.

This year certainly looked a little different, with shows adapting from stage pieces to Zoom pre-recordings, live online shows and audio plays.

The week-long festival also included a series of talks and workshops from theatre industry professionals. Among the guest speakers were acclaimed dramatist, April De Angelis, whose work has been performed at the Royal Court Theatre, the Haymarket and the National Theatre. 

Also, Helen Goalen, Theatre Maker/performer and a founder member of RashDash, a theatre company specialising in devising new pieces of physical theatre.

Festival Director Alexander Cohen, explained why keeping the festival going this year has been so important: “DDF 2021 could be accessed by anyone anywhere. All the links to the shows and events were readily accessible on our social media sites and free for everyone.

“I am proud of the fact that when the arts world was forced into silence, we, the next generation of theatre makers and creatives, were still able to use our voices to express the stories that matter to us. I introduced a theme for the festival: “radical voices for radical times” to help inspire our writers to reflect on our generation’s relationship to an increasingly strained and polarised society.”