Month: March 2016

Monday 14th March, 8.15pm Pomeroy Players (Confined) present ‘Da’  by Hugh Leonard “Da” is a tightly constructed, one-set memory play, a traditional theatrical form, made popular by Tenessee William’s “The Glass Menagerie”, in which adult narrators look back on their younger selves in a life-changing moment. The action takes place in the small claustrophobic house, in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey, where Charlie grew up. Charlie has come home from London to bury his foster father. While clearing away some papers and junk, Da butts into Charlie’s mind with unasked for advice and truisms, with offers of nice cups of tea and with biased recollections of events that are still painful to the middle-aged Charlie. When Da isn’t rewriting history to his own…

Sunday 13th March, 7.30pm Corn Mill Theatre Group (Open) present ‘From the Belly of a Whale’ a new play by Charles Mc Guinness    A dark comedy set in a dystopian future of post-nationalist misery and moral degeneration, where an unlikely group of characters, housed together in a system defined by the violence of a brutal political regime, discover that their horrific personal histories might tie them together more tightly than the ever-constraining grip of the all-powerful President C and his minion, Jonas. A new play by Charles Mc Guinness of Corn Mill Theatre Group, who also directs.

Best Overall Production/ Blue Riband: ‘Old Times’ by Ballyshannon Drama Society First Place in Open Section: ‘Old Times’ Best Actor: Richard Hurst as ‘Deeley’ Best Actress: Rachel O’Connor as ‘Kate’ Best Director: Conor Beattie Best Set: John Travers Nomination for Best Actress: Trish Keane  Two for two!

Saturday March 12th at 8.15pm Butt Drama Circle (Open) presents ‘Translations’ by Brian Friel The play is set in the quiet community of Baile Beag (later anglicised to Ballybeg), in County Donegal, in 1833. Many of the inhabitants have little experience of the world outside the village. In spite of this, tales about Greek goddesses are as commonplace as those about the potato crops, and, in addition to Irish, Latin and Greek are spoken in the local hedge school. Friel uses language as a tool to highlight the problems of communication — lingual, cultural, and generational. Both Irish and English characters in the play “speak” their respective languages, but in actuality it is English that is mostly spoken by the…

We are delighted to welcome Patrick Sutton as the adjudicator of the 64th Ballyshannon Drama Festival. Patrick is Director of The Gaiety School of Acting, the National Theatre School of Ireland. He is also the Director of the Newly established Smock Alley Theatre. Trained at Dartington College of Arts, England, Patrick graduated in 1980 with an honours theatre degree. He has recently received his MA in Screenwriting from IADT. He has worked extensively as an actor in Ireland, England and France. Patrick is a former Director of Plymouth Action Community Theatre, The National Festival of Youth Theatres, Ireland, Wexford Arts Centre, and Artistic Director of TEAM Theatre Company. Patrick has worked at a senior level in politics, industry and the arts….

Ballyshannon Drama Society return to the circuit this week with the second and third competition performances of ‘Old Times’. On Wednesday (March 9th) we take part in the Kiltyclogher Drama Festival, followed by the Shercock Drama Festival on Thursday night (March 10th). Results from Kiltyclogher will be announced on Saturday, while we have to wait until Saturday the 12th to hear back from Shercock. Wish us luck!

‘Old Times’ had a very rewarding night at the Newtownstewart Drama Festival, the first festival of the circuit for Ballyshannon Drama Society, taking home all of the major awards. Best Overall Play – ‘Old Times’ First Place in Open Category – ‘Old Times’ Best Actor – Richard Hurst as Deeley Best Actress – Trish Keane as Anna Best Director – Conor Beattie Best Set – ‘Old Times’ Nomination for Best Actress – Rachel O’Connor Nomination for Lighting – Mark Fearon. This win gives Ballyshannon Drama Society 12 points on the ADCI leaderboard – a good start to the circuit!

                                                  Opening Night: Sat 12th March at 8.15pm Adjudicator: Patrick Sutton Times: Nightly at 8.15pm, except both Sundays 13th and 20th at 7.30pm March 12th:   Butt Drama Circle: “TRANSLATIONS” by Brian Friel (Open) 13th:   Corn Mill: “FROM THE BELLY OF A WHALE” by Charles McGuiness (Open) 14th:   Pomeroy: “DA” by Hugh Leonard (Confined) 15th:   Newtownstewart: “THE FACTORY GIRLS” by Frank McGuiness (Confined) 16th:   Phoenix Players: “THE SUNSHINE BOYS” by Neil Simon (Confined) 17th:   Prosperous: “ONE MAN, TWO GUV’NORS” by Richard Bean (Open) 18th:   Lifford Players: “A CRUCIAL WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A GROCERS ASSISTANT” by…