The 2026 Studio Spotlights
There were four Studio Spotlights for the 2026 festival.
Friday morning
for 45 minutes
Finding the perfect play for YOU to perform – and how to secure the rights
with
Tamara von Werthern from Nick Hern Books
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This Studio Spotlight was for anyone looking for essential advice on how to find the perfect play to meet your group’s requirements, and how to navigate your journey to production.
Friday morning
for 90 minutes
Grab, slap and punch effectively and convincingly on stage
with Stage Combat Instructor, Dan Gough
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This practical Studio Spotlight was for anyone wanting to understand how to master the principles of Stage Combat
Saturday morning
for 90 minutes
How to recognise and deliver effective theatre
with West End Director and OLIVIER, TONY and BAFTA nominee, Bob Tomson
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This practical Studio Spotlight was for any directors, would-be directors and actors interested in how to get the best from the key creative relationship between director and performer.
Sunday morning
for 60 minutes
Getting under the skin of
‘Killing Time’ by Ste Mc
with Ste Mc and Sue Doherty
This Studio Spotlight was for published and yet-to-be-published playwrights interested in understanding why Ste Mc won the 2026 Derek Jacobi Playwriting award for his play ‘Killing Time’
Finding the perfect play for YOU to perform – and how to secure the rights
with
Tamara von Werthern from Nick Hern Books
Did you know that the last four winners of the National Drama Festival were productions of plays published and licensed by Nick Hern Books?
Selecting and performing a pre-existing play is clearly a great starting point for setting up your group for festivals success – and in this session, Tamara von Werthern, NHB’s Performing Rights Manager, will be your expert guide to the entire process.
Come along to discover essential advice on how to find the perfect play to meet your group’s requirements, and how to navigate your journey to production – including securing the performing rights, the costs involved, getting approval for script cuts and revisions, and more. You’ll also be able to ask your own questions and catch up with Tamara one-on-one to get tailored recommendations in the Artrix foyer throughout Friday.
About Nick Hern Books (NHB)
Nick Hern Books (NHB) is the UK’s leading specialist independent theatre publisher and performing rights agents, and Principal Partner of the NDFA.
They publish roughly eighty new plays every year and are home to many of today’s most exciting and renowned playwrights – including Mike Bartlett, Jez Butterworth, debbie tucker green, Lucy Kirkwood, Conor McPherson, Winsome Pinnock, Evan Placey, Jessica Swale, Jack Thorne and Amanda Whittington – whose work is widely performed by amateur groups across the UK and beyond.
NHB also publishes expert training and advice books – on acting, writing, directing, producing and more – to support creatives in their own work and career.
Grab, slap and punch effectively and convincingly on stage
with
Stage Combat Instructor, Dan Gough
With conflict at the heart of so much dramatic work, a grounding in the basic principles and understanding of how to safely simulate single moments of aggression such as basic grabs, slaps or punches up to multiple opponent melees and complex armed combat sequences is a key tool for any modern theatre practitioner to have.
This practical Studio Spotlight aims to introduce key principles and provide an opportunity to practice a variety of effective unarmed stage combat techniques.
Suitable for all experience levels as both an introduction and a refresher course, the objectives of this Spotlight are:
- To give everyone a grounding in basic stage combat principles to ensure safety and effectiveness
- To demonstrate and practise a selection of simple unarmed techniques which are the most frequently required on stage and form the building blocks for more complex choreography work
- To discuss how to incorporate combat sequences effectively into the wider narrative of a performance and to devise, practise and perform a simple choregraphy sequence
Participants will be moving throughout with ample opportunity to practise and implement the techniques shown as well as a chance to perform a short choreography sequence at the end.
PLEASE NOTE that entry to this Spotlight will be on a first-come-first-served basis so please get there early if you want to join in. There will be a few seats at the back for those wanting to just watch.
About Dan Gough
Dan trained with the Stagefight School of Performance Combat in Birmingham. Achieving
Instructor status over 10 years ago, he now provides both show choreography and combat
workshops for various groups under the ECSPC certification – a recognised accreditation
under both Equity and Spotlight.
An experienced performer himself, Dan has a particular interest in combat choreography for
stage, exploring the narrative and character basis behind the action alongside developing
combat techniques. Dan has choreographed everything from Shakespeare to high farce and
at various locations across the UK including BOA, the Stamford Shakespeare Company,
Italia Conti Associates Rugby and Cloud Aerial Arts Manchester.
How to recognise and deliver
effective theatre
with
West End Director and OLIVIER, TONY and BAFTA nominee, Bob Tomson
Are you interested in exploring how to create a cohesive ensemble; rehearsal techniques; performing styles; problem solving; spotting opportunities; the role of the creative director; the actor as creator?
This will be a highly practical session exploring these and other performance craft topics.
There will also be scope for a no-holds-barred Q&A with this experienced professional theatre and TV director. (Although Bob is a GODA Council member and experienced adjudicator, this session utilises his own directorial approaches and expertise.)
About Bob Tomson
Bob Tomson has been an actor, stage and screen writer, a college and university lecture in drama, and now divides his time as a professional director in both theatre and TV. His work has been nominated for OLIVIER, TONY and BAFTA Awards. His early years as an amateur actor with Liverpool Masque players and the Liverpool Youth Theatre gave him his first love of the stage.
Bob went on to act with the National Youth Theatre and became their Associate Director for several years. As resident director at various reps, he has founded no fewer than 18 youth theatre groups, has become a sought-after guest tutor at leading London Drama Schools and on amateur theatre training courses. He is a council member of the internationally regarded Guild of Drama Adjudicators, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
His production of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers has won every major British theatre award, recently completed a record 25-year run in London, and was nominated for three Olivier Awards, and his current production of Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice’s Evita has been running in the UK for 11 years, including seasons in London’s Dominion and Phoenix theatres.
Getting under the skin of
‘Killing Time’ by Ste Mc
(the 2026 Derek Jacobi Playwriting award winner)
with
Ste Mc and Sue Doherty
”Sinewy, powerful and … deeply moving” said the judging panel of the winning entry in the 2026 Derek Jacobi Playwriting Competition.
‘Killing Time’ by Ste Mc tells the story of the final 48 hours of a prisoner on Death Row.
The play focuses on the long-term relationship between a hardened criminal and a sensitive professional.
At the Studio Spotlight we’ll watch and discuss excerpts from the play, discuss Ste’s motivation, background, and challenges, and what made this playwright who, until eight years ago, had never been to the theatre because he thought it was ‘an upper class thing’ change his mind!
"Winning the Derek Jacobi Award truly feels like a “wow” moment for me. After nearly eight years of writing, I often find myself battling that persistent inner voice urging me to give up, questioning whether my work is good enough. Receiving this award provides a sense of validation and gives me the confidence to silence those doubts—at least for a while." ~ Ste Mc ~