The finest amateur drama talent in the country will head to Claregalway from tonight (Thursday ) March 12 when the Claregalway Drama Festival gets under way at the local Leisure Centre.
The event which will run until Friday March 20 will see nine of the best amateur drama groups in Ireland take to the stage in the battle for points on the All-Ireland drama circuit.
The community centre in Claregalway was this week completely transformed into a comfortable theatre with tiered seating, free refreshments, and wonderful entertainment for the duration of the event.
Chairman Mike Hession told the launch last week that the festival is a remarkable event that is made possible by the sterling work of a dedicated committee. He said that the festival has made an enormous contribution to the development of amateur drama in the region.
The festival kicks off tonight Thursday with the local drama group Compántas Lir taking the stage with their production of the classic play Johnny Belinda. Compántas have already enjoyed great success with the play on the circuit so far this year, winning their first festival in Kildare last weekend and taking a whole host of acting and production awards.
There will be considerable local interest in the festival as in addition to Compántas; DADS from Dunmore will present the Tom Murphy play Conversations on a Homecoming; Glenamaddy Players will present All Souls’ Night; and Knocknacarra-based KATS will stage the Martin McDonagh play The Pillowman.
The adjudicator for the event is Brendan Murray and doors open each night at 7pm with performances commencing at 8pm.
Tickets for the festival are available at the door for €10 with concessions at €5, while a season ticket for €60 allows access to all nine plays. Free teas and coffees and buns will be provided at the interval, while patrons are also invited to stay behind and enjoy the hospitality in the Festival Club at the famous indoor marquee at the hall.
The full list of plays is:
Thursday March 12 Confined Section
Compántas Lir
Johnny Belinda
By Elmer Harris
Life is hard on McDonald’s farm in Nova Scotia and harder for young Belinda, a deaf mute whose afflictions have been confused with mental deficiency. Then, the town’s doctor takes an interest in helping her break out of her silent prison, which does not please the villagers. This stars Ruth O’Driscoll, Declan Varley, Philip Cribbin, Vincent Moran, Fidelma O’Rourke, Patsy Cahalan, Sile Mannion, Breda Hannon, and Mary McCarthy, and is produced by Bríd Conneely.
Friday March 13 Confined Section
DADS. (Dunmore )
Conversations on a Homecoming
By Tom Murphy
Michael has returned from America and the old friends get together in their old watering hole “The White House” for a night of nostalgia. Under the pervading influence of the enigmatic and absent JJ they gradually begin to peel away the layers that have protected them and to expose the tenuousness of the ties that bound their friendship.
Saturday March 14 Confined Section
Amphitheatre Company
Sharon’s Grave
By John B. Keane:
Sharon’s Grave is a folk play which portrays the constant struggle between the forces of good and evil and the strong mythical beliefs of rural Ireland.
Sunday March 15 Open Section
Knocknacarra Amateur Theatre Group (KATS )
The Pillow Man
By Martin McDonagh
A writer in a totalitarian state is being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a series of child murders.
Monday March 16 Open Section
The Palace Players
The Weir
By Conor McPherson
The play is set in a rural bar in a remote part of Ireland around the north west Leitrim/Sligo area. The year is 1998. The local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress a young woman from Dublin who has just moved into the area. But she turns the tables on them………
Tuesday March 17 Confined Section
Glenamaddy Players
All Souls Night
By Joseph Tomelty
Molly Trainor and Michael Quinn are to be married and Michael is keen to develop the family’s fishing business by buying a bigger boat. While his father John seeks to help him get on, his mother Katherine refuses to lend him the money. A tough woman from a hard upbringing, she is grieving desperately for her favoured son Stephen, who has drowned. With the coming of All Soul’s Night, Katherine’s anguish at Stephen’s death becomes ever greater as the tragic backround to his death emerges. When tragedy strikes again, John and Katherine find themselves alone together and now must find peace in this bitter home.
Wednesday March 18 Open Section
Friars Gate Theatre Group
The Shape of Metal
By Tom Kilroy
Nell, an artist and mother, capable of great evil and sensitivity, unscrupulous and passionate, highly intelligent and given to outbursts of obscenity, casts a large shadow over everyone around her. Her relationship with her daughters, Judith who remains by her side and Grace who disappears, forms the core of the play.
Thursday March 19 Open Section
Nenagh Players
Tuesdays With Morrie
By Jeffery Hatcher and Mitch Albom
Tuesday’s with Morrie is the autobiographical story of Mitch Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career and Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor. Sixteen years after graduation Mitch happens to catch Morrie’s appearance on a television news programme and learns that his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Mitch is reunited with Morrie and what starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly pilgrimage and a last class in the meaning of life.
Friday 20th March 20 Open Section
Shoestring Theatre Group
A Night in November
By Marie Jones
A Night in November follows Kenneth McAlister, family man and Ulsterman on the fateful night in November 1993 in Belfast when the Republic of Ireland played against Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier, and Kenneth finds himself watching the sectarian hatred of the crowd rather than the football.
