National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) is a UK based organisation founded in 1956 with the purpose of creating new art, new artists and new communities. It also runs a charity aimed at empowering young artists. The NSDF was originally targeted towards people aged 16âÂÂ25 years old; in 2021âÂÂ22, the age bracket was extended to include 26-year olds.
NSDF is a year-round organization whose work peaks at its annual festival, held for one week in one chosen city. A daily magazine, Noises Off, is written by a team of writers and participants at the festival.
The NSDF was founded in 1956 by the Sunday Times arts columnist Kenneth Pearson, Sunday Times theatre critic Harold Hobson, and National Union of Students (United Kingdom) president Frank Copplestone. Pearson went on to become the organization's first artistic director. Early supporters also included Sunday Times Editor Harry Hodson and Professor Glynne Wickham, a pioneer of the academic discipline of drama based at the University of Bristol.
Even before 1956, the National Union of Students had organised dramatic festivals, such as in 1947 at Birmingham, but this was the first year that it had been backed by the Sunday Times.
Scottish universities that were a part of the Scottish Union of Students were not allowed to participate until 1962, as universities not affiliated with the National Union of Students were not allowed to participate before that year.
Even after NSDF allowed Scottish universities, the SUS still ran their own Scottish Union of Students National Student Drama Festival from 1963 to 1967.
On its 50th anniversary in 2006, a book was published, called Fifty years of the National Student Drama Festival. It included a full list of shows for those 50 years.
Past NSDF participants include Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill, Meera Syal, Simon Russell Beale, Ruth Wilson, Marianne Elliott, and Lucy Prebble. Companies with past affiliation with NSDF include Slung Low, Jamie Lloyd Productions, RashDash, Barrel Organ and LUNG Theatre.
NSDF 22 took place from 9âÂÂ15 April 2022 in Leicester.
NSDF 25 took place from 22âÂÂ26 April 2025 after a break because of Covid.
Prizes are presented at the festival's closing ceremony. Some of these are named after prestigious theatrical institutions or people. The Buzz Goodbody Director Award was named after the first female director for the RSC, who attended the festival in 1967. Previous winners include Roland Smith (artistic director of Theatre Delicatessen), Phil Young, Jane Prowse, Fiona Clift and Richard Hurst.