Lucilla Festival

History of the Lucilla Festival

The Lucilla Festival celebrated it's 40th anniversary in 2005.

Maureen Boase, pictured below, organised the Lucilla Festival for 39 of those 40 years! Quite an achievement! At the end of the 2005 Festival, Maureen announced her 'retirement' from the role of Festival Organiser. Use THIS LINK to see a brief tribute to Maureen.

On reviewing the viability of the Festival, the Lucilla Committee reluctantly decided, for various reasons, that the Lucilla Festival should be discontinued as it was no longer viable. These reasons included the high cost of hiring Crosby Civic Hall, the lack of support from the paying public, and other, organisational, factors. Therefore, the 2005 Festival proved to be the last - the end of an era.

Maureen writes:

'The Lucilla One-act Play Festival was originally an idea of Cecil Abbotson, strongly supported by myself and Lillian Sewell, the Secretary of Lucilla at that time. We formed Picture of Maureen Boase, Festival Organiser

Picture of Maureen Boase, Festival Organiser

a small committee to organise the event and five local companies were invited to present a genuine one-act play together with Lucilla’s entry, the event to take place over two nights, three plays each night, on the studio stage at Lucilla House. James Cochrane, a British Drama League Adjudicator, was invited to adjudicate the six plays. The first winner of the Lucilla Cup was St. Mary’s Amateur Dramatic Society.

The Festival ran for 4 years at Lucilla House, being taken out in 1970 to Alexandra Hall, Crosby and in 1976, to Crosby Civic Hall, where the event was presented in May each year.

The same companies have not taken part each year and it was necessary to search far and wide to find sufficient entries, preferably to make a 3 night Festival although on occasion only 2 nights were possible.

The Festival was always run in a light hearted and friendly manner, and I made many new friends over the years. The Festival was always considered to be one of the highlights of the year’s events in Crosby, enjoyed by participants and audiences alike'.

The Lucilla Festival was latterly affiliated to the National Drama Festivals Association.

Winners of the Lucilla Cup 1966 - 2005
1966: St. Mary's Dramatic Society 1967: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1968: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1969: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1970; St. Helen's Amateur Dramatic Society 1971: The Dorians 1972: The Dorians 1973 The Derby Players 1974: The Derby Players 1975: The Cambridge Players 1976: Alsop Drama Group 1977: Aughton Community Theatre 1978: Alsop Drama Group 1979: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1980: Aughton Community Theatre 1981: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1982: Alsop Drama Group 1983: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1984: The Players, Skelmersdale 1985: The Players, Skelmersdale	1986: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1987: Waterloo 8 Crosby Theatre Co. 1988: The Players. Skelmersdale 1989: Aughton Community Theatre Co 1990: Waterloo & Crosby Theatre Co. 1991: Waterloo & Crosby Theatre Co. 1992: Neptune Productions 1993: Neptune Productions 1994: Splinter Theatre Group 1995: Lucilla Amateur Dramatic Society 1996: The Players. Skelmersdale 1997: The Players, Skelmersdale 1998: The Players, Skelmersdale 1999: The Players, Skelmersdale 2000: The Players, Skelmersdale 2001: The Players, Skelmersdale 2002: The Riverside Players 2003: The Players, Skelmersdale 2004: Lucilla Dramatic Society 2005: Neston Players

Lucilla Dramatic Society Lucilla's November 2009 Production is announced! CLICK HERE JOIN LUCILLA! CLICK HERE For directions to Lucilla House CLICK HERE Become a Friend Of Lucilla DS CLICK HERE

History of the Lucilla Festival

The Lucilla Festival celebrated it's 40th anniversary in 2005.

Winners of the Lucilla Cup 1966 - 2005