A Letter from the Chair

There were dramatic autumn beginnings for our company, planned and designed, as we threw down red carpets and sent aspirations to the gods of dry weather for the arrival of the Vikings. Of course I’m talking about our Oslo Askeraden Drama friends who arrived on our shores on September 29th to perform their version of ‘Peer Gynt’ for the Donegal Bay & Bluestacks Festival.

Warm hugs and huge smiles joined us all back together in a bonding moment. We set off for a celebration union dinner in the resplendent Sandhouse Hotel, Rossnowlagh. In this perfect setting we were treated like royalty and dined
like kings as our guests  gazed in awe at the Atlantic Ocean waves. After dinner we were  entertained with Irish dance and shared  our local history before retiring to bed.

Day 2 was filled with rehearsals and a trip to the Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, then back to partying in Aiden and Sharon’s home. What a fabulous evening in the nicest of company, sharing great food, wine, song and lots of dancing .

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Day 3 started with a tour of the Donegal Craft Village and Donegal Castle. That  night the Abbey audience were treated to a wonderful  technical production of “Peer Gynt” performed in English, no less. They certainly did us proud. The group left on Sunday and parting is such sweet sorrow but  hopefully  we will meet again in the near future. That’s our wish.
14657413_1774995136095454_5751957620586136711_nourtownWe had a short reprieve  to recharge the batteries in preparation for our in-house production of ‘Our Town’  by Thornton Wilder. We had a fabulous  four-night run: Oct 11th, 12th, 13th and 16th, all of which were sponsored by the ever-supportive Sandhouse Hotel. A cast and crew of 35, directed by Anne Mc Hugh and Geraldine Diver, delighted audiences and brought so much new talent to our  stage. Hopefully our new members will stay with us for further productions.

 

the-real-thing-5to0bqyv-uq3There’s more…We are hitting the Circuit road again with Tom Stoppard’s  play “The Real Thing” directed by Christian Carbin. Our  winter sport begins on Tuesday 25th of October with our first reading, and we are looking forward to the fruits of that labour.

That’s you all caught up! It’s busy but it’s all good madness. I’ll be back with more updates  soon but for now it’s a massive thank you to everyone involved in all our recent events, especially our sponsors The Sandhouse Hotel who were our sponsors each night for ‘Our Town’, and please stay close because we appreciate you all.
Trish Keane
Chairperson, Ballyshannon Drama Society