Scottish Community Drama Association

Six new plays are being performed in Largs next month in a bid by SCDA to find new playwrighting talent.

"Play on Words" 2006 is organised by the Scottish Community Drama Association and this year is being organised by its Ayrshire District.

Secretary Betty Matheson, from Kilmarnock, explained: ""Play on Words" gives playwrights the unique opportunity to see their unpublished and unperformed plays being staged.

"In Largs, their words will come alive for the first time.

"The annual competition attracts over one hundred entries. A judging panel reads all the plays and draws up a six-strong shortlist, and the six best are performed.

"This year the six will be staged in Barrfields Theatre, Largs, on 3 and 4 November. It promises to be a highly enjoyable competition, because this year the standard is extremely high."

All six writers will share prize money totalling £1600.

On November 3 the youth performers take to the stage, and the plays to be performed are:

"Snotface" by Mike Newbold, performed by Largs Youth Theatre. Established in 2002, LYT is a thriving youth group of over 100 students between the ages of 3 and 18. The aims of Largs Youth Theatre are to promote self confidence and a sense of self worth, encourage performance skills, enhance knowledge of the theatre in its many forms and promote organisational and team building skills.

"The Edge" by Ron Nicol, performed by Abbey Youth Drama Club. Abbey Youth Drama Club was formed in September 1998 and is part of the Abbey Church in Kilwinning. It is a small group, aged between eleven and eighteen, who are very dedicated and enjoy the fun that drama brings. The club has regularly taken part in the SCDA One-act Play festival and also puts on a production in May in the Abbey Church Hall.

"Leavers" by Bernie Crossthwaite, performed by The Largs Junior Players. Largs Junior Players is an offshoot of Largs Players, a club of some 70 years' standing. The "Juniors" began in April 1999 and they first entered the Ayrshire One-act festival in February 2000. Since then, it has taken part every year, being Ayrshire's representative at the Divisional Final in 2003.

On November 4, the plays from the Open Section will be performed

"Every Single Day But One" by Claire Scott, performed by West Kilbride Players. West Kilbride has been in existence since 1919, so it's now 87 years old - making it one of the oldest clubs in Scotland. The club has performed in the One-act Play Festival on and off since the inception of that competition and has also taken part in the full-length Festival, winning it with a performance of "The Heiress".

"Watching The Magpies" by Les Clarke, performed by The Largs Players. This year they have presented several adult and youth one-acts, presented a murder mystery at a local hotel, staged a highly successful Oscar Wilde classic, The Importance of Being Earnest for a week in Kelburn Castle, and have just completed their 13th summer season of Comedy Theatre.

"Getting The Message" by Valerie Bowes, performed by Laigh Kirk Dramatic Club, Kilmarnock. Over the years Laigh has performed comedies, farces and dramas - some of our members have been in the club for nearly 50 years and are still going strong. The Club has managed to coerce one or two younger people to join recently, as the choice of plays was becoming rather limited.

Added Betty: "All the teams are looking forward to performing at this "Play on Words" Festival.

"I hope Ayrshire people will come along and support the festival. It is unique to the SCDA - it allows clubs and directors to see new works, it allows the authors to see their plays performed and it is a challenge to the teams taking part to take these new writings and put the words into pictures."

For information and tickets, call Betty Matheson on 01563 541 322.