NORTH Ayrshire's new adult community drama group NAE Drama are set for a special performance in Eglinton Park later this month.

The Eglinton Tournament - A History (Almost) will take a look at the very first time the famous event was held.

It's August 1839 and, following the cut-cost coronation of a very young Queen Victoria, the Earl of Eglinton and his step-father decide to put on a show with all the pomp and ceremony they could muster.

What better than a medieval tournament with bunting, banners, knights, ladies and, of course, jousting...

Except it's in Scotland ... on a flood plain. What could possibly go wrong? And who will actually turn up?

Join the participants of Three Towns-based NAE Drama for their 40 minute(ish) (almost) true retelling of this funny, fascinating and farcical local tale.

NAE Drama was founded in July 2024 on the pure passion, will power and self-determination of participants following funding cuts that sadly caused Triple Act Theatre and Arts, the organisation which had originally brought them together, to close its doors.

A locally rooted group, telling locally relevant stories as opportunities to bring the local and wider community together, NAE Drama has already defied the narrative that they depend on funding to survive.

The close knit group are primed to thrive, brim full of enthusiasm, ambition and a desire to test the limits of possibility of just how far they can go - rather like those Victorians and their medieval tournament!

This show is a celebration of what can be done with a good story, a sense of fun and imagination, even with no budget and in a very short space of time.

Every ticket bought will help NAE drama continue to meet, explore their creative voice and grow as a positive force for the arts in the Three Towns and beyond.

The show will take place in the Eglinton Racquet Hall in Eglinton Country Park on Sunday, October 27 at 1pm and 2pm. 

Tickets cost £4.98 (including booking fee and cake) and are on sale now from https://www.tickettailor.com/events/naedrama.

You can search NAE Drama on Facebook for more details.