The Easter Festival of Plays will return next year with a full programme of one-act and full-length productions.

The event, held at the Gaiety Theatre, is the highlight of the amateur dramatics calendar in the island.

Amateur theatre companies are being invited to enter the festival which will take place from March 27 to April 2.

In 2026, the Manx Amateur Drama Federation (MADF) decided to hold the Festival of One Act Plays after taking a year off organising a full programme following the 75-year anniversary celebrations in 2025.

But the full programme returns for 2027 with Dr Tristan Marshall appointed as adjudicator.

A director, actor and theatre scholar, Dr Marshall is a former artistic director of Questors Theatre in London. He has undertaken professional training with Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He holds a PhD in Jacobean theatre history from the University of Cambridge and is a member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators (GoDA).

His experience across theatre practice and academic research will bring valuable expertise to the festival as participating companies present their productions to audiences and the adjudicator.

The One Act Festival this year enabled MADF to continue supporting new writing, emerging talent and established amateur theatre companies during the break from the full festival format.

A spokesperson for MADF said: ‘With the full festival returning to the Gaiety Theatre, 2027 promises another opportunity to celebrate the creativity, dedication and talent of amateur theatre in the Isle of Man and beyond.’

The 2026 festival followed MADF’s 75th anniversary Easter Festival of Plays in 2025, which celebrated the Federation’s longstanding contribution to amateur theatre in the Island.

At this year’s One Act Festival Rushen Players won Best Play for ‘Blood of the Lamb’, while Stage One Drama took Best Youth Play for ‘In Juliet’s Garden’.

Three productions were selected for the Derek Jacobi Award with Theodora by Gemma Varnom named runner up.

The festival's overall winner was ‘Holding the Man’ by Tommy Murphy performed by Garden Suburb Theatre (London), based on the popular autobiography which charts the love between two men amid the HIV epidemic in the 1980s.

One of the standout productions was Shelter, an original one-act play by Manx playwright Jenny Derbyshire, performed by Goodbye Piccadilly Productions, set in an Anderson shelter in Manchester during the Second World War.

Shelter won Best Play at the Isle of Man Easter Festival of Plays, with Simon Fletcher receiving Best Actor. Derbyshire subsequently won the Derek Jacobi Playwriting Award.

The winners of the Youth Play was ‘The Trials by Dawn King’ performed by the Platform Theatre School.

For next year’s festival, MADF welcomes entries from established amateur theatre companies and newcomers interested in taking part.

The closing date for entries is December 1. Companies wishing to enter or find out more can contact the festival team by emailing [email protected].

- Are you an artist, author, or musician? Got an event to promote? Email details and a photo to [email protected] for a chance to feature in Island Life.