Devised Musical Group Work Competition: What It Is, Where It's Run and How It's Judged

A large-company class in which eight to thirty performers create and perform an original piece that weaves song into spoken drama and movement, marked on invention, singing and ensemble staging.

Devised Musical Group Work asks a company to build its own piece of music theatre. Nobody hands the group a script or a score: the story, the characters, the structure and the way songs sit inside the action all come from the performers. The songs may be borrowed tunes with new words, original melodies, rhythmic chants or arrangements of familiar songs, as long as they serve the piece the company has made.

In the eisteddfod speech and drama section we build the template from, the class is a team entry of at least eight and at most thirty performers, open to any mix of boys and girls, entered by the age of the group across six bands from 9 and under to 18 and over. The template allows 15 minutes for the three youngest bands and 20 minutes for the 13 to 14, 15 to 17 and adult bands, calculated per head, and each performance is marked out of 10.

On the day the company is announced, sets up, performs one continuous piece and clears the stage. Because singing is part of the entry, the adjudicator listens as well as watches: how the songs grow out of the drama, whether the harmony or unison singing is secure, and whether the spoken scenes and the musical numbers feel like parts of one show rather than two separate acts.

Organisers run the class because it brings singers, actors, movers and instrumentalists into one team. A youth theatre, a school choir with a drama group or an adult community company can all enter together, and the finished piece is entirely their own work.

Where Devised Musical Group Work is run

Devised music theatre appears in festival speech and drama and performing arts sections, school showcases and youth theatre competitions across the British Isles and elsewhere. The template data we hold has this class in one Channel Islands eisteddfod speech and drama section, beside a non-musical devised class and a scripted musical class. Entry rules, company sizes and time limits differ between organisers, so read the syllabus of the event you are entering.

• Guernsey, Channel Islands (eisteddfod speech and drama section)

Key facts

• Team entry: a company of 8 to 30 performers in the source syllabus.
• Original, devised material that combines singing with spoken drama and movement.
• Entered by age band: six bands from 9 and under up to 18 and over, open to any mix of boys and girls.
• Time limits in the template: 15 min (three youngest bands) and 20 min (13 to 14, 15 to 17, 18 and over), calculated per head.
• Marked out of 10 per performance in the template.
• Idea starters, not rules: a seaside town preparing for a storm told through sea shanty-style numbers, a night at a museum where exhibits sing their own histories, or a market day told in call-and-response chants.

On eTalenter, Devised Musical Group Work is filed under Action and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Devised Musical Group Work is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to 15–20 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Devised Musical Group Work

What a Devised Musical Group Work panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Integration of song and drama: songs that move the story on or reveal character score higher than numbers dropped in as a separate act.
• Quality of the singing: secure pitch, clear words, balanced parts and a confident start from a given note, whether in unison, rounds or simple harmony.
• Originality of the idea and of the musical material: new words, new arrangements or new rhythmic ideas are weighed above a straight copy of a known show.
• Shape and pace: a clear opening, build and ending within the time limit, with smooth links between speech and music.
• Ensemble staging: movement, formations and transitions that involve the whole company, with every member given a purposeful part.
• Clarity and projection: sung and spoken words must carry to the back of the hall, which matters most when thirty voices overlap.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Devised Musical Group Work under Scoring Setup, or start from judging and scoring with eTalenter.

How to prepare for Devised Musical Group Work

How entrants and their teachers usually get Devised Musical Group Work right on the day:

• Decide early whether the piece is led by story or by song, then build the other around it so the two never compete.
• Write or adapt the songs first in a simple form, with a clear key and starting note for each, so the company can find them without an accompanist leading.
• Split the work: a small team shapes the script, another arranges the music, a third plans the movement, and the whole company meets to join them up.
• Rehearse the moves between speaking and singing separately, since a lost cue or a late first note is the most common weakness.
• Practise the diction of sung lines at full volume with the whole group, because consonants disappear first in big ensembles.
• Time the full piece with a stopwatch including entrance and exit, and cut a verse rather than rush the ending.
• If a backing track or live accompanist is allowed by your organiser, rehearse with it on the stage and agree who starts it, so the opening is tidy.

Frequently asked questions

Is Devised Musical Group Work judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What is the difference between Devised Musical and Devised Non-Musical Group Work?

Both are original pieces created by the company. The musical class includes singing as part of the performance, while the non-musical class uses speech, movement and staging only.

Is Devised Musical Group Work the same as Scripted Musical Group Work?

No. In the scripted class the company performs an existing musical or script. In the devised class the company writes and arranges its own material.

Do all the performers have to sing?

The syllabus we build from does not say how the singing is shared out. Adjudicators generally expect the whole company to take part in the musical numbers, so check your own organiser’s rules.

Is the class judged as a team or individually?

As one team performance with a single mark, so the whole company succeeds or loses together.

Want the full judging picture? Read judging and scoring with eTalenter, or browse every action competition item.

Try Devised Musical Group Work in eTalenter

See every ready-made template that runs Devised Musical Group Work, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.

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