Become young reviewer for Theatre Royal Winchester and Hat Fair 2019

Children and teenagers are being given the opportunity to become young reviewers for Theatre Royal Winchester and Hat Fair 2019.

Live Theatre Winchester Trust, the charity that runs Theatre Royal Winchester and the UK’s longest-running festival of Outdoor Arts, Hat Fair, is inviting young creative writers to submit a 200-word review on their favourite theatre show, book or film, with a chance of winning tickets to see and review a show at the theatre, before reviewing their favourite performance at the larger-than-life free, annual festival, Hat Fair, held in Winchester and this year runs from Friday 5 – Sunday 7 July.

CREDIT Adrienne Photography

There are two competitions hopefuls can enter. The winner of the 5 – 11 year olds category will be crowned Junior Reviewer 2019, while the lucky 12 – 18 year old will become Teen Reviewer 2019.

The Junior Reviewer will win two tickets to see a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s well known fable about an ugly duckling, Honk! A Family Musical, at

Theatre Royal Winchester, on Saturday 29 June, at 10.30am; while the Teen Reviewer will get to bring a plus one to Oddsocks’ vibrant and modern rendition of the Shakespearean favourite, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at the theatre, on Tuesday 25 June at 7pm.

Each winner will be asked to write a review of the show they saw – which will be published on Theatre Royal Winchester’s website, on their news blog; before being invited to this year’s Hat Fair, during which they will enjoy spectacular performances from some of the world’s most talented and energetic dancers, musicians, acrobats and circus acts, and will be asked to review their favourite show, with these too being published on the blog.

To enter one of the two competitions, all youngsters need to do is email their 200-word show, book or film review, plus their name, age and contact details, to Engagement Producer, Katrina Henderson at katrina@hatfair.co.uk. Alternatively, they can place their review and personal details in an envelope, marked Junior Reviewer Competition and addressed to Creative Learning Department, and hand this in to a member of staff at the theatre’s Box Office.

The closing date for each competition is 3 June.