Ballyshannon Drama Society is once again heading to Athlone in a few weeks for the RTÉ All Ireland Amateur Drama Finals with ‘The God of Carnage’ by Yasmina Reza, and will then compete in the final of the Ulster Drama Festival in The Mill, Newtownabbey on Saturday, May 23rd.
Months of rehearsal in the basement of the Abbey Centre, four nights to ever-supportive home audiences, and eight nights on the festival circuit have certainly paid off. The show took four Firsts (in Newtownstewart, Strabane, Carrickmore and Cavan), finishing in third place overall on the ADCI Leaderboard. The leaderboard is now wiped clean as the nine All Ireland finalists compete in the Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone.
The All Ireland finals begin on April 30th and run to May 8th, before closing with a gala awards ceremony in the Radisson Hotel, Athlone, on Saturday, May 9th. The draw to decide which night each finalist performs will take place on Easter Monday, April 6th. Tickets will be available from the Dean Crowe website on Thursday April 9th.
Of course Ballyshannon will not be the only Donegal representatives in the All Ireland Finals as Letterkenny Music and Drama Group compete with their production of ‘The 39 Steps’, which won a host of awards including Best Overall in the Open section in the Ballyshannon Drama Festival this year. It’s a fantastic achievement for two Donegal amateur drama groups to make it to the final, which is often dominated by more southerly and groups (as a glance at this year’s leaderboard will prove).
The Ulster Drama Festivals final begins on Monday 18th of May, and finishes on Saturday May 23rd, with ‘The God of Carnage’. Booking is through the Mill Theatre.