AT the Cornwall Festival for One Act Plays, Laun­ceston Amateur Dramatic Society (LADS) came away with two major awards and two commendations. The society entered two plays 'Overtime' and a Youth entry 'Us and Them' competing against a large number of drama groups from around Cornwall.

This annual festival, held at St Austell for 2009, is part of a national programme with the winner going on to subsequent rounds of quarter and semi-finals with the national final in June. Plays were adjudicated by Jane Levan from GoDA, who commented on the high standard of plays submitted from Cornwall.

LADS have a strong tradition of supporting these festivals giving actors, technical staff and directors the opportunity to try new material and challenges. This year's entries provided that and much more in a highly competitive field.

Launceston Youth Theatre received 'The Bernard Douglas Trophy' for best youth group and 'The Doris Berryman Award' went to Oksana Wroath for Best Director. Highly commended was Ray Ripley for his part as 'Albert' and Liz Eagle as 'Mrs Sullivan' in 'Overtime'. Other parts were played by Lois Rashbrook (Julie), Peter Lankston (Frank), Dan Blackwell (Kevin) and directed by Claire Fishleigh.

Members of the Youth Team directed by Oksana Wroath included Natalie Jenning, Lear Winser, Brandon Gale, Harry Eccles, Sarah Basford, Hayley Wakeham, Lizzie Forward, Megan Freeman and Harriet Parsons.

LADS offer a wide range of theatrical opportunities for adults and young people with weekly programmes for the youth section and adults. For those not inclined towards acting, there are many opportunities on the technical side for people to use and develop their skills. For more information contact 01579 362269 or http://www.launceston">www.launceston -amateur-dramatic-society.co.uk