Third consecutive win for Bayside and Westside Drama Group

The Bayside and Westside Drama Group won the Duncan Rand Youth One-Act Play Festival for the third year running with their production of Layla.

The group travelled to Medway Little Theatre in Rochester, Kent to participate in the Festival for the sixth time and performed hard-hitting drama Layla alongside their light-hearted comedy La Calle Commedia, which also came third.

Carmen Anderson, who played the title role in Layla, also won Best Actress, with Kai Nemes who played Valerio in La Calle Commedia winning Best Supporting Actor, an award which the group has now won in their last five participations.

Natasha Richardson also received a Merit Certificate for her performance as the bully Lucy in Layla.

“We're naturally very happy,” said Bayside Drama Teacher Julian Felice.

“After coming second three times, it's great to have won it now on three occasions and prove that the group is performing to a consistently high standard. It is important to do well when representing Gibraltar and I think we have done that successfully.”

Mr Felice added the opportunity to perform outside of Gibraltar and achieve these accolades has been great for the Drama Group.

“They are all very talented young actors, and they complement that by being very hard working, so their achievements were very much deserved,” Mr Felice said.

“They are also still young, so there's a promising future ahead of them.”

Adjudicator Amanda Sharpe-Conroy commended the group’s acting and was very impressed with the talent and versatility displayed by the young actors, who had to perform two vastly contrasting plays in the same evening after a full day rehearsing.

The Festival attracts youth groups and schools from all over the south eastern corner of England and went on all week.

The performances were also well received by the audience, which included relatives who had travelled to the theatre to watch.

The group’s achievements have now taken their total to 52 awards. Their impressive record at the Duncan Rand Festival continues with three consecutive wins to three second place results.

The students who were led by teachers Mr Felice and Dulcie Edwards also took part in a joint workshop with Medway Little Theatre’s Youth Company, who are frequent visitors to Gibraltar’s Drama Festival.