PLANS are well in hand for the annual Sedgefield Drama Festival of One Act Plays hosted by Sedgefield Players.

This year the festival will have nine plays and will take place over five evenings at Sedgefield Parish Hall, from September 25, to 29.

Three new groups are taking part this time: Bedale and District Amateur Dramatic Society with Matchstick Dreamland; Shildon Centre Stage with a Victorian melodrama Curses, Foiled Again; and North of Watford Theatre, which includes some members of Sedgefield Players who have set up the group especially for the festival.

North of Watford Theatre's offering, I'm Still Here, has been written by two of the group, Paul Baguley and Ben Smith.

There will also be two youth groups taking part: Sedgefield Players, with Merry Regiment of Women; and Saltburn, with Board Games, Sedgefield Players will be performing act one of Me and My Friends.

It was with act two that the Players reached the finals of the national competition. This time, it has two men in the cast.

Sedgefield are also performing the Art of Remembering, by American playwright Adina L Ruskin, which recently won the All-England Festival.

Two plays by author Jimmie Chinn, are also being performed.

Performances will be nightly in Sedgefield Parish Hall at 7.30pm, with tickets at £4 (concessions £3.50) and Season Tickets £15 (concessions £12), available from Selections, Dorothy Gaskarth Opticians, members of the groups, or by calling (01740) 620091.