Ballyshannon Drama Society

Tonight at the Drama Festival, we welcome the Phoenix Players of Tubercurry with their production of ‘Animal Farm’, the dramatisation of George Orwell’s classic novel, directed by Tom Walsh.

Not happy with the way they are being treated, and exploited, the animals of Manor Farm decide to revolt, expel their owner and take over the running of the farm themselves. Based on George Orwell’s classic tale satirising the perils of Stalinism, it is a parable about totalitarianism anywhere, anytime.

Formed in 1945, the Phoenix Players are one of the longest established amateur drama groups in the country, and are very much a community based group. They are regular participants in both the 3-Act and 1-Act Drama Festival circuits, having won the All Ireland1-Act (Confined) Festival in 2021 with their production of Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite”.

Tonight at the Drama Festival, we welcome the Ray Leonard Players with their production of ‘Eclipsed’ by Patricia Burke Brogan.

Outlined by a present-day prologue and epilogue, the play is set in 1963 in a
convent laundry at St. Paul’s Home for Penitent Women in Killmacha, Ireland.
Eclipsed explores the poignant and sometimes humorous story of young
pregnant, unwed mothers consigned to work as ‘penitents’ in church-run
laundries. Supervised by nuns, these women were treated as virtual slaves
and their infants were forcibly put up for adoption. After seeing the goings
on in the laundries as a young novice, playwright Patricia Burke Brogan
decided to highlight the plight of these women. Eclipsed was one of the first
plays to tell the story of the Magdalene Laundries.

Established in 2019, The Ray Leonard Players was founded to honour the legacy of
the late, great director Ray Leonard, who was synonymous with drama in Claremorris
throughout his life. Ray was a director, producer and mentor who made an outstanding
contribution to drama, musicals and stagecraft. In keeping with Ray’s deep sense of
community the group have formed a unique collaboration with Claremorris Men’s Shed
who have designed and built the set for this play. In 2023 the group qualified for the
All-Ireland Confined Finals with ‘The Kings of the Kilburn High Road’, and in December
2023 they won the All-Ireland One-Act Confined Finals with ‘A Night Without Stars’.
RunningTime: 1 hour 50 minutes

Tonight at the Drama Festival, we welcome Corn Mill Theatre with their production of ‘According to Rumour’, a comedy by Robert Scott.

Carter can’t remember exactly what happened last night, but the naked woman emerging from the bedroom is the last person he wants his Mum to find in his flat. And there’s the puzzling matter of the bag of money in his fridge. And he is not sure that his best friend Roger, sister Emma, sister’s fiancé Logan, the maids or the postman will be of any help solving the problem.

Regular visitors to the Abbey Centre, Corn Mill Theatre have won the All Ireland Open section three times in the past: in 1998 with ‘Belfry’ by Billy Roche, in 2005 with ‘Stolen Child’ by Yvonne Quinn and Bairbre Ni Chaoimh and in 2014 with ‘The Devil’s Ceili’ by Philip Doherty & Kevin McGahern.

Tonight we welcome Enniskillen Theatre Company to the drama festival with their production of ‘The Lonesome West’ by Martin Mc Donagh.

‘The Lonesome West’ is a play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, part of his Connemara trilogy, which includes ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ and ‘A Skull in Connemara’. All three plays depict the murderous occurrences in the western Irish town of Leenane. ‘The Lonesome West’ features the constantly arguing brothers Coleman and Valene, whose father has just died in a shotgun ‘accident.’ Valene is only interested in his religious ornaments and drinking poteen. Coleman is only interested in eating, and attends funerals to collect free sausage rolls and vol au vents.

Established in 2019, Enniskillen Theatre Company aimed to participate in the Irish Theatre Festival. In 2020, their first entry faced an unexpected setback due to the onset of COVID-19. Undeterred, in 2022, they reached the finals with the same play at Ballyshannon. In 2023, the group took a breather from competition and dived into lighthearted comedy at home. The group are excited to be back on the road in 2024, and delighted to have the opportunity to present their version of “The Lonesome West” by Martin McDonagh.

Tonight, we welcome the Castleblayney Players to the Abbey Centre, with their production of ‘No Going Back’ by Joe Hanratty.

No Going Back tells the story of two brothers who have taken part in the Irish War of Independence and they both carry scars from that conflict that cannot easily be shaken off. Tom the IRA Captain and his reliable back up man Jimmy have engaged in a lot of the fighting while Tom’s younger brother Michael has also seen his share of violence and has been at the receiving end of it too. After the Civil War they both settle down to life in a farm that was once part of their family heritage. That too carries its own ghosts of the past. But their experiences of conflict continue to come back and impact on their lives. Their story is complicated by Michael’s love for Ruth, the daughter of a local farmer who also has been the victim of “those terrible times” as Tom calls them. It all begins to close in on Michael who is forced to seek support from psychiatrist Dr. Fitzpatrick and this engagement opens up some things that Tom and Jimmy feel are best forgotten.

Castleblayney Players was founded in 1990 and their first production was ‘Philadelphia Here I Come’. Since then, they have produced many plays and have won many awards including the ADCI Confined All Ireland with ‘Blue Remembered Hills’, Dundalk International Festival with ‘The Great Hunger’, and represented Ireland in the World Drama Festival in Monaco with ‘At the Black Pig’s Dyke’. Their most recent production was the hilarious comedy ‘Anyone Can Rob a Bank’.

Curtain is at 8pm, and tickets are available online: https://abbeycentre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173652831

What a weekend! ‘Margaret’ took home two first places and one third as three festivals announced their results last night, along with awards for acting, direction and sound.

In Kiltyclogher, the production won first place, as well as Best Actress for Rachel O’Connor as Margaret, Best Actor for Shaun Byre as Dennis (and many other characters), Best Director for Monica Doherty and the Audience Award. In Enniskillen, ‘Margaret’ placed first again, with more trophies for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, the Audience Award, and Best Sound by Sean O’Connor. The show came third in Castleblaney, and Rachel O’Connor won her third Best Actress award of the season.

This is a fantastic start for the production, with 26 points now on the Open League leaderboard, and five more shows to go. Next up, ‘Margaret’ makes its first appearance in Ballyshannon as part of the 71st Ballyshannon Drama Festival in the Abbey Centre on Friday night, March 15th. Book early!!

The curtain opens on the 71st Ballyshannon Drama Festival tonight, with Newstownstewart Theatre Company presenting ‘The New Electric Ballroom’ by Enda Walsh.

Trapped in the memories of their youthful nights at The New Electric Ballroom, sisters Breda and Clara reflect on lost love and what might have been. As they reminisce, their younger sister Ada looks to re-ignite Breda and Clara’s spirits, and resurrect the smallest glimmer of love and hope in their remote fishing village home.
An absurdist fable of the damaging effects of small-town life, Enda Walsh’s play won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award in 2008 and confirmed him as one of Ireland’s most distinctive and dynamic writers of the modern era.

Newtownstewart Theatre Company are regular visitors to the festival and we’re delighted to welcome them back to Ballyshannon, as the first show in nine nights of drama.

Curtain: 8pm
Booking: https://abbeycentre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173652831

“Margaret” by Shaun Byrne, this year’s circuit festival entry by Ballyshannon Drama Society, has its first circuit performance in the Enniskillen Drama Festival tonight, March 6th. In fact, as the original version of the show has been re-written and developed by the playwright, we can say tonight is the world premiere of the play!

Margaret is a new play by Donegal playwright Shaun Byrne, a follow up to 2021’s highly successful Bloody Sunday themes ‘An Incident with Dave Cotter’. The play joins Margaret near the end of her life, and explores troubled relationships: with the Irish, the miners, her children, the public, her male cabinet; as past demons, guilt and scueesses return to torment, flatter and deceive her.

The role of the Iron Lady is performed by Rachel O’Connor, with Shaun Byrne playing various roles as significant characters from her past. The play is directed by Monica Doherty.

“Margaret” features in eight festivals in the All Ireland Amateur Drama Festival. Best of luck to the cast and crew as they begin the journey towards Athlone!!

Date	Festival	Venue
Wednesday, March 6th	Enniskillen Drama Festival	The Ardhowen Theatre
Thursday, March 7th	Kiltyclogher Drama Festival	Community Hall
Saturday, March 9th	Castleblaney Drama Festival	Iontas Theatre
Friday, March 15th	Ballyshannon Drama Festival	The Abbey Centre
Saturday, March 16th	Strabane Drama Festival	The Alley Theatre
Tuesday, March 19th	Carrickmore Drama Festival	The Patrician
Wednesday, March 20th	Portadown Drama Festival	Town Hall Theatre
Thursday, March 28th	Glenamaddy Drama Festival	Glenamaddy Theatre