A Letter from the Chair

It was September 25th 2018, the meeting was a party of five and home made apple-tart was our appetiser on an evening where six scripts were discarded and a special one chosen.

Auditions were

Earnest Ballyshannon'19 (5)

advertised, excitement grew, and one week later ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ was given the breath of life, or should I say the breath of nine lives.

We had our first cast reading in our theatre’s green room. It was wonderful to hear the play read aloud, words weaving the comical story and characters coming to life. It was obvious by the end of the reading that “Earnest” was the right choice for our group .
Our Wilde Winter sport was set in motion. We had all stepped into a surreal world of 19th century language, a story first performed in London on February 14th 1895. 124 years later, Ballyshannon Drama Society performed the play, opening on February 12th 2019 for a four night run on our home stage in the Abbey Arts Centre, before embarking on the Open circuit journey, hoping to qualify for The All Ireland Finals in Athlone.
Earnest Ballyshannon'19 (12)

We competed in 8 venues around the country: Tubbercurry, Kiltyclogher, Castleblaney, Enniskillen, Ballyshannon, Carrickmore, Portadown and Strabane. We were placed in all 8 festivals and winning three earned us the maximum points to assure our place in the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Finals on May 8th in Athlone. During the festival run we picked up 39 awards in Acting, Costume, Set/Decor, Lighting, Sound, Stage Management and Directing.

We are so grateful for all the hospitality shown to us on the circuit. We appreciate all the time adjudicators spent with us to help pave our way forward.
Earnest Ballyshannon'19 (14)

We are thrilled with all the help and support from our community, and a special thanks to all our families and friends who tolerated our absence from the real world. This will be the fourth time we have qualified for this prestigious festival, first with ‘The Gingerbread Lady’ in 2014 , ‘God of Carnage’ in 2015 and ‘Old Times ‘ in 2016. We also came second in the One Act All Ireland Drama Finals 2017 with ‘Five Kinds Of Silence’.

On May 8th we promise wholeheartedly to represent Ballyshannon Drama Society with our gorgeous interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest (A Trivial Comedy for Serious People)’ . We are so lucky to have a theatre of the highest standard to rehearse in. We know we have the greatest supporters in the world behind us and an outstanding team of friends weaving and working this tapestry into something beautiful.
Earnest Ballyshannon'19 (20)

We are all very proud of our production. We have worked hard and we are ready to show it off in all its splendour on the All Ireland stage. We would love to see you all for our gala evening and preview performance on Monday 6th of May in the Abbey Arts Centre, when we will also take the opportunity to launch the 2020 All Ireland Confined Finals which Ballyshannon Drama Society will be proud to host. There will be a wine and finger food reception at 7.30 with curtain at 8.30.

Please come along to celebrate and support this wonderful achievement before we give our final performance in Athlone on May 8th.
We also need your blessings, good karma and everyone’s fingers and toes crossed on May 8th. Hold us close in your hearts and we will feel your presence.
Thank you all for everything!
Trish Keane
Chairperson, Ballyshannon, Drama Society