Meet the All Ireland Drama Festival adjudicator
The adjudicator for the 2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival is Walker Ewart, a native of Castledawson, Co. Derry, who lives currently in Bangor Co. Down.
As an adjudicator, he works mainly throughout Ireland and Scotland, and occasionally in England. He has adjudicated the British One-Act Finals three times; the three All-Ireland Finals (Open Full-length in Athlone and One-Acts twice, Confined Full-length three times), the Ulster Drama Finals and the Scottish Finals once. This year he will adjudicate the All-Ireland Festival in Athlone for the third time.
A graduate of the University of Southampton, followed by a Masters from the University of Ulster, he was a teacher of Modern Languages for 25 years. He then became a member of the Education and Training Inspectorate for 15 years. He was awarded an OBE for ‘services to education’ in 2012 on his retirement.
His lasting interest in amateur drama began at the age of 14, when he was cast as Sir Oliver Surface in Sheridan’s ‘School for Scandal’ and felt the magic of making an audience laugh. He has been involved with the amateur drama circuit since teacher-training college in 1975 as an actor, director and administrator.
He had the privilege of being Secretary and Chairman of both Bangor Drama Club and Bangor Drama Festival. A particular honour was becoming the Chairman of the Association of Ulster Drama Festivals (AUDF).
He has appeared as an actor in the All-Ireland Finals in Athlone in ‘Amadeus’ with Holywood Players, and in ‘A Doll’s House’ with Bangor Drama Club. He has appeared as both an actor and director in the Ulster Drama Festival on several occasions.
Having been a Bangor Drama Festival tea-maker, secretary and Chairman, he is fully aware of the efforts made by the huge team of volunteers in any production, in any festival.
He has basked in, and suffered, adjudications as an actor and director and understands the sensitivities of groups who have been preparing their work for many months.
He deems it an honour to adjudicate his peers in any festival. It is, however, a particular honour, and an awesome responsibility, to adjudicate Athlone, he said.