NSW Public Schools State Drama Festival – school application

Festival dates: Term 4 Week 2

• Evening performances on Wednesday 21 October, Thursday 22 October and Friday 23 October.
• Matinee performance on Friday 23 October.

Items

• Please nominate any pieces or short films that have not been presented in your local area drama festival.
• Nominations may exceed places available. Please do not anticipate acceptance into the State Drama Festival.
• It is the nominating teachers responsibility to ensure the video link for each item is submitted by the due date.
• All applicants will be notified via emailed after the audition panel meet.

For live performance items, we are looking for ensemble performances that are less than 10 minutes. Please note that we prefer devised or original works (rather than scripted works) as copyright can be tricky for scripted options. However, if you have a scripted item that is less than 10 minutes, feel free to submit and we can investigate what might be possible. 

For short films, we are looking for creative, student-made films that are less than 5 minutes. There is no required theme, however, the festival will be shared with a general public audience, so we request that any films submitted are is suitable for this context.

Further inquiries should be directed to the Drama Team.

• NSW public schools behaviour code for students

Cost

• $150.00 including GST per school performance item
• $100.00 including GST for short films

Festival clothing

Festival t-shirts and hoodies will be made available to order in late Term 3, 2026.

Workshops

School groups will also have the option of attending a 90-minute workshop on the same day as their technical rehearsal. Please indicate on your application if you would be interested in booking in for this optional opportunity. 

Workshops will incur an additional fee of $12.00 per student.

Seymour Centre information

• Seymour Centre - risk assessment information for schools (PDF 173.25 KB)
• Seymour Centre COVID-safe visit