Would you like to join our “People’s Adjudication Panel” at this year’s festival? As previously announced we are changing the adjudication format in 2019. There will be no more spoken presentations immediately following the performances. Instead members of the audience will give their opinions.
We are looking for G&S enthusiasts who have already booked to attend the four amateur shows in the Royal Hall. Those selected will be asked to mark performers out of ten. The performers with the highest collective scores will win the various awards – Best Male Voice; Best Female performer etc.
“It is very demanding on a single adjudicator to walk out in front the curtain five minutes after a performance and give a comprehensive review of the performance and the performers,” says Festival Director Ian Smith. “ “Over the years some societies, individual performers and audience members have been critical of comments made and this year as an experiment we decided to change the format. An adjudication should be a celebration of a performance – educational and helpful,” he added. “Sadly this has not always been the case.”
“We will still have awards – but audience members will select the winners. All our “People Adjudicators” have to do is award marks to individual performers and those with most marks will be declared the winners at our special awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon August 18th. Your votes will be totally confidential. You complete the form, hand it to me and at the end of the competition I add up the scores and we have the winners. You can sit anywhere you like in the theatre. You do not know who the other adjudicators are. It is completely secret. I am excited to try it out – but we need more volunteers. Please let me know if you would be prepared to have a go. Email me at: ian@gsfestivals.org”