Wednesday 15th at the Festival: Letterkenny Music and Drama present ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’

‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 15th, 8.15pm.

Next Wednesday night sees the return of Letterkenny Music and Drama Group to our drama festival as they present Eugene O’Neill’s classic ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’.

Long Day's Journey Into NightA semi-autobiographical account of O’Neill’s own upbringing, it tells the tragic story of the damaged and tormented Tyrone family over a long hot summer’s day in Connecticut in 1912. As the day progresses, they gradually come to terms with their addictions, their blame on each other and their own over-riding guilt as long built-up family tensions rise to the surface and threaten to destroy them.

Over the years it has been performed by actors as diverse as Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Olivier, Jeremy Irons, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Dennehy, David Suchet, Laurie Metcalf and Philip Seymour Hoffman to name just a few with the most notable recent production taking place on Broadway last year with Gabriel Byrne and Jessica Lange in the lead roles.

 

 

JAMES TYRONE – ANTHONY DELAP

MARY CAVAN TYRONE (HIS WIFE) – GERALDINE GALLIGAN

JAMES TYRONE (THE ELDEST SON) – MARTIN HASSON

EDMUND TYRONE (THEIR YOUNGER SON) – JOSEPH GALLAGHER

CATHLEEN (SERVANT GIRL) – ELAINE GILLESPIE

DIRECTOR – KIERAN KELLY

PRODUCER – PLUINCÉAD Ó FEARRAIGH

ASSISTANT PRODUCER – DIARMUID Ó GALLCHOIR

‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 15th, 8.15pm.

Book your Season Ticket now to get access to all 9 nights of the festival for only €60.
Nightly tickets are €15/€12 for concessions.

Contact John on 0863743207 or the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375 to avoid disappointment.

Tuesday 14th at the Festival: Lifford Players present ‘Abigail’s Party’

‘Abigail’s Party’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 14th, 8.15pm.

Abigail's PartyNext Tuesday night, we have our first entry in the Open category as Lifford Players present ‘Abigail’s Party’ by Mike Leigh.

The play is a suburban situation comedy of manners. Beverly Moss invites her new neighbors over for drinks. People loosen up as the alcohol takes effect. All the prejudices and fears of the protagonists are ruthlessly exposed.

 

BEVERLY – CLARE TUTTLE

LAURENCE – EDWARD FLANAGAN

ANGELA – ANDREA EMMET T

TONY – GILBERT YOUNG

SUSAN – DEE DEE DIVER

DIRECTOR – EDWARD FLANAGAN

CREW

Lighting: Jarlath Houston; Sound: Robert Mc Crea; Stage Manager: Jonny Brennan;

Make Up: Kate Redmond; Crew: Tom Nelis, Mike Redmond, Aidan O’Doherty

 

 

‘Abigail’s Party’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 14th, 8.15pm.

Book your Season Ticket now to get access to all 9 nights of the festival for only €60.
Nightly tickets are €15/€12 for concessions.

Contact John on 0863743207 or the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375 to avoid disappointment.

 

Monday Night at the Festival: Newtownstewart Theatre present ‘The Hen Night Epiphany’

 

Hen Night Epiphany

‘The Hen Night Epiphany’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 13th, 8.15pm.

 

Monday night at the Ballyshannon Drama Festival sees the return of the Newtownstewart Theatre Company with their production of ‘The Hen Night Epiphany’.

Should some secrets never be kept no matter what the cost? Five women come together to help clear out a run-down cottage a week before the wedding of its new owner, Una. Joining her on this hen night of sorts are her two best friends, Kelly and Triona, her soon to be mother-in-law, Olive, and Olive’s best friend, Anita. But Una is keeping a secret that, if revealed, will detroy all hopes of her dream wedding and living happily ever after with the love of her life. As the play unfolds, we see the women, one by one, forced to confront awkward truths of their own.

NTC have been in existence for a few years now, this will be their third year on the circuit. The group performed Frank Mc Guinness “The Factory Girls” last year to great success and are very much looking forward to the 2017 Festivals.

UNA – CIARA CONNOLLY

KELLY – MARIA HARKIN

TRIONA – LISA CALLAGHAN

OLIVE – GILLIAN MAYSE

ANITA – BRIEGE MC SORLEY

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR – FINTAN GALLAGHER

 

‘The Hen Night Epiphany’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 13th, 8.15pm.

Book your Season Ticket now to get access to all 9 nights of the festival for only €60.
Nightly tickets are €15/€12 for concessions.

Contact John on 0863743207 or the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375 to avoid disappointment.

 

Sunday Night at the Drama Festival: DADS present Neil Simon’s ‘The Odd Couple’

The Odd CoupleSunday night at the Ballyshannon Drama Festival promises to be a great night out as DADS presents Neil Simon’s much-loved comedy classic ‘The Odd Couple’.

If the slovenly condition of Oscar Madison’s apartment is anything to go by, it’s no wonder that his wife has divorced him. When his fastidious friend Felix Ungar arrives with nowhere to go, having just parted with his own wife and trying to hold himself together, Oscar invites him to move in. With their new living arrangement, Oscar and Felix’s idiosyncrasies come to the fore and their friendship is tested to breaking point.

Neil Simon’s comedy classic premiered on Broadway in 1965 and was later produced in film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. The characters were revived in the 1970’s TV sitcom starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, although the TV series was scripted by a team of screenwriters and not Simon.

DADS (Dunmore Amateur Dramatic Society) have a terrific cast in this year’s production. The cast is: Andrew Carney (Speed), Damian O’Keeffe (Felix), Eleanor Sheridan (Gwendolyn), Joan Walkin (Cecily), Martin Silke (Murray), Ollie Turner (Oscar), Padraic Lee (Vinnie) and Ray McGrath (Roy). Directed by Philip Macdonnell.

Need a laugh? Do not miss this hilarious production!

‘The Odd Couple’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 12th, 8.15pm.

Book your Season Ticket now to get access to all 9 nights of the festival for only €60.
Nightly tickets are €15/€12 for concessions.

Contact John on 0863743207 or the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375 to avoid disappointment.

‘The Real Thing’ takes Second in Newtownstewart!!

Results from Newtownstewart Drama Festival:First Place – Bradán

Second Place – Ballyshannon Drama Society

Third Place – Letterkenny

Best Actor – Richard Hurst
Best Supporting Actress – Rachel O’Connor

Trish Keane nominated for Best Actress. 

Conor Friery nominated for Best Supporting Actor. 

Christian Carbin nominated for Best Producer. 

‘The Real Thing’ nominated for Best Set (John Travers, Paul Mc Gonigle, Trish Keane). 

Congratulations everyone! A brilliant start to the circuit, and truly well deserved!! Next up, Enniskillen on Tuesday 7th, Kiltyclogher on Wednesday 8th and Castleblaney on Thursday 9th. 

‘Tuesdays with Morrie’, Backburners Theatre, Sat. March 11th

The 65th Ballyshannon Drama Festival will open with ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom, based on the novel of the same name by Albom. The show is produced by the long established Backburners theatre group from Newtownstewart, featuring our very own Paddy Campbell, making a very welcome return to the Abbey stage.

Tuesdays with Morrie‘Tuesdays 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.

It is a heartwarming exploration of friendship and life. It will make you cry, think, feel but above all it will make you laugh.

 

Morrie – Seamus Mc Nabb

Mitch – Paddy Campbell

Director – Frank Mc Gillion

Lighting – Justin Doherty

Sound – Dessie Mc Glone

Stage Manager – Philomena Daly

Set Design – Aidan Mc Gillion

 

‘Tuesdays with Morrie’, the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, March 11th, 8.15pm.

Book your Season Ticket now to get access to all 9 nights of the festival for only €60.
Nightly tickets are €15/€12 for concessions.

Contact John on 0863743207 or the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375 to avoid disappointment.

 

‘The Real Thing’ Opens Tonight at 8.30

‘The Real Thing’ – Opening Night Special €10

Ballyshannon Drama Society return to the Abbey Arts Centre tonight with Tom Stoppard’s startlingly funny and deeply moving ‘The Real Thing’, before taking the show out on the festival circuit. 

The play opens in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, on Valentine’s Night, a fitting night for this enthralling, witty and insightful comedy about love and fidelity. 

Written by four-time Tony Award winner Tom Stoppard, ‘The Real Thing’ is a play set in 1980s London that examines the nature of honesty, love, and marriage. Featuring a play within a play, the production explores appearances versus reality through the relationship between Annie, an activist and actress, and Henry, a playwright.

First performed at London’s The Strand Theatre in 1982, ‘The Real Thing’ went on to win a Tony Award for Best Play in 1984, and another Tony in 2000 for Best Revival. Frank Rich of the New York Times called Stoppard’s ‘The Real Thing’ his “most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years.”

Directed by Christian Carbin, the cast includes Ballyshannon Drama regulars Trish Keane, Richard Hurst, Rachel O’Connor and Terence Mc Eneany, with relative newcomers Conor Friery, Simon Ferris and Louise Larkin.

Trish, Richard and Rachel have taken part in all of the circuit productions to date, including the last three which made it to the All Ireland Finals, and have accumulated more awards and trophies than they can remember! Terence is making a long overdue return to the circuit having starred in ‘The Memory of Water’, as well as ‘Widow’s Paradise’ and ‘A Wake in the West’ in the Abbey. Simon and Louise made their drama debuts earlier this year in ‘Our Town’, in which Louise played one of the lead roles, Emily. Conor Friery is well known as an actor around Donegal, having performed most recently as Johnny Pateen Mike in ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’. Director Christian is also well known locally, having performed in ‘Our Town’ and directed ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ for the Donegal Drama Circle.

The play runs for four nights (Tues. 14th, Wed. 15th, Thurs. 16th and Sat. 17th) in the Abbey Arts Centre. 

 Following a short break the group will once again pack everything into the back of the van and hit the road for eight nights on the drama circuit.

 This will be the eighth time that Ballyshannon Drama Society have participated in the national drama competition, having made it to the All Ireland Final with the last three productions. 

The dates on the festival circuit are: Newtownstewart, March 3rd;

Enniskillen, March 7th; 

Kiltyclogher, March 8th; 

Castleblaney, March 9th; 

Cavan, March 19th; 

Bangor, March 24th; 

Carrickmore, March 28th; 

Newry, March 29th. 
Tickets for the Ballyshannon shows are available from the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375. All tickets on opening night (Feb. 14th) are €10, and €12 (€10 concessions) on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Curtain is at 8.30pm nightly.

‘The Real Thing’ – Opening Night Special €10

Ballyshannon Drama Society return to the Abbey Arts Centre this week with Tom Stoppard’s startlingly funny and deeply moving ‘The Real Thing’, before taking the show out on the festival circuit.

The play opens in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, on Tuesday February 14th, a fitting night for this enthralling, witty and insightful comedy about love and fidelity. 

Written by four-time Tony Award winner Tom Stoppard, ‘The Real Thing’ is a play set in 1980s London that examines the nature of honesty, love, and marriage. Featuring a play within a play, the production explores appearances versus reality through the relationship between Annie, an activist and actress, and Henry, a playwright.
First performed at London’s The Strand Theatre in 1982, ‘The Real Thing’ went on to win a Tony Award for Best Play in 1984, and another Tony in 2000 for Best Revival. Frank Rich of the New York Times called Stoppard’s ‘The Real Thing’ his “most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years.”
Directed by Christian Carbin, the cast includes Ballyshannon Drama regulars Trish Keane, Richard Hurst, Rachel O’Connor and Terence Mc Eneany, with relative newcomers Conor Friery, Simon Ferris and Louise Larkin.
Trish, Richard and Rachel have taken part in all of the circuit productions to date, including the last three which made it to the All Ireland Finals, and have accumulated more awards and trophies than they can remember! Terence is making a long overdue return to the circuit having starred in ‘The Memory of Water’, as well as ‘Widow’s Paradise’ and ‘A Wake in the West’ in the Abbey. Simon and Louise made their drama debuts earlier this year in ‘Our Town’, in which Louise played one of the lead roles, Emily. Conor Friery is well known as an actor around Donegal, having performed most recently as Johnny Pateen Mike in ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’. Director Christian is also well known locally, having performed in ‘Our Town’ and directed ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ for the Donegal Drama Circle.
The play runs for four nights (Tues. 14th, Wed. 15th, Thurs. 16th and Sat. 17th) in the Abbey Arts Centre. 
 
Following a short break the group will once again pack everything into the back of the van and hit the road for eight nights on the drama circuit.
 
This will be the eighth time that Ballyshannon Drama Society have participated in the national drama competition, having made it to the All Ireland Final with the last three productions. 
The dates on the festival circuit are: Newtownstewart, March 3rd; Enniskillen, March 7th; Kiltyclogher, March 8th; Castleblaney, March 9th; Cavan, March 19th; Bangor, March 24th; Carrickmore, March 28th; Newry, March 29th. 
 
Tickets for the Ballyshannon shows are available from the Abbey Arts Centre box office on 0719851375. All tickets on opening night (Feb. 14th) are €10, and €12 (€10 concessions) on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Curtain is at 8.30pm nightly.