DRAMA students at Maidenhill School stole the show in an acting competition - winning the overall prize for best performance.

The accolade was awarded at the Stroud Arts Festival Five Live Schools Drama Competition at the Sub Rooms.

GCSE students Maddy Brown, Robin Dale, Beth Eager, Annie Pickering and Jack Ponting impressed the judges with their short play Out of the Box, which was based on the theme of belonging.

The performance, which centred on the idea of triplets belonging to each other, was devised and performed with the help of Maidenhill drama head, Marie Machers.

The win secured £200 for the school while Maddy Brown picked up Best Actress on the night, and Jack Ponting scooped Best Actor, winning a further £25 each. This was the first year Maidenhill entered the staged event, and were up against stiff competition from Thomas Keble, Stroud High and Marling School.

Speaking after the play, which was performed in front of friends and family, Adrian Bull, who was sat on the judging panel, said: “With Maidenhill’s performance I was gripped right from the beginning. The entrance of the cast from behind the audience was superb.

“It was a beautifully presented piece, I could not take my eyes off it. “Normally as an adjudicator I am making notes throughout a performance, but I wrote nothing because I did not want to miss a single moment.

“The sequence using frames was just lovely. There was a highly successful merging of substance and style throughout – all the adjudicators wanted to see it again."

Students said the piece was influenced by the work of British stage and screen actor Steven Berkoff, which they reflected by being very stylised in nature - combining movement, sound and texture.

“I am over the moon, they were amazing,” said Marie Machers, who has taught drama at the school for more than three years.

“I am so proud of them for going out there and winning almost every prize. The students have been rehearsing at lunchtimes and after school for weeks - they worked really hard and gave up a lot of their free time.”

Students at Stroud High won £50 on the night in the Highly Commended prize.