Full Members of the Guild are entitled to use the post-nominal letters, GoDA Associate Members are entitled to use the post-nominal of GoDA(Associate) GoDA was founded in 1947 as a response to the growing dissatisfaction about standards of adjudication in the boom festival years after World War II with an editorial in the magazine Amateur Stage providing the impetus for its establishment.
[1] Ostensibly, it was founded for the benefit of Amateur Drama and from its beginnings its members were available to assist Amateur Dramatic Societies across the United Kingdom with constructive criticism both at Drama Festivals or at performances specific to individual groups.
[2] To achieve its founding aims GoDA established recognised principles of practice for its members to apply and adhere to.
The Guild also formulated definitive objectives to this end, namely: There were originally forty-six founder members and, with a few exceptions, additional members are selected by means of annual Selection Weekends where candidates are instructed and tested.
[3] The scope of the activities of the members of the Guild range from adjudicating drama festivals for full plays, one-act plays, or verse-speaking festivals to lecturing on drama and various aspects of theatrical art.