Denouement of 'Drama at Ennis' - The All Ireland One Act Plays

Winners All

All Ireland One Act Play Winners 
MACE Best Actor Award: Irene Kelleher from Kilmeen Drama Group
Best Overall Performance: Irene Kelleher from Kilmeen Drama Group
Winners of the Confined Section : Corofin Dramatic Society (2nd place to Compantas Lir of Claregalway; 3rd to Breffni Players of Carrick on Shannon)
Winners of the Open Section: Kilmeen Drama Group (2nd place to Prosperous Drama Society; 3rd place to Athlone Little Theatre)
Adjudicator's awards go to: actor Robert Massey from Prosperous Drama Society and Director TJ Duggan from Prosperous Dramatic  Society
DLI Scholarship goes to: John Dennehy from Bradán Óg, Leixlip

   Reviews here


Following fast on the heels of Druid's Big Maggie, I attended another festive evening of theatre at Glór, Ennis the culmination of a weekend packed with drama when the winners of the One Act Drama Finals were announced.

 Patrons were greeted by masked giant doormen a la Macnas setting the party atmosphere at the door and the foyer bar was buzzing when we arrived as thespians discussed the events of the weekend.  The first play was a rather dark tale of a victim meeting her attacker after ten  years suffering the consequences of their last encounter.  It was followed by a slice of life as observed by Alan Bennett, in a trademark exposition of the tragedy of ordinary middle class lives.  In this offering by Bray Arts,  the sense of achievement of  lifetime by  amiable retiree Dodsworth is decimated in the space of afternoon tea by a visit from  Mrs. Protheroe.
 
It was a pleasure to hear voices projected clearly without any amplification. MC John Finn was greeted warmly by the audiences and his drole introductions  with impeccable comic timing drew lots of laughter.  Anna Walker as adjudicator  was excellent in delivering constructive criticism with a  sense warm empathy


Tumble Circus were  bit of a slow burner and took a little time to win their audience around but maybe it was the gold spraypainted hula hoops that eventually earned them their standing ovation. This group are used to audiences standing as they are streeet entertainers after all and were a good choice to complement  the more wordy theatrical offerings.

Directors take a bow!

Eventually, we came to the final act, the awards ceremony.  This was a one act play in itself, delivered with suitable aplomb to a hushed auditorium.  The vibrant painted backdrop cast a glow,  'actors' were accompanied on stage by the giant masked  figures band  to a blast of suitable music, 'Oscars'  style.  Everybody hammed it up a bit and it was all the better for it. There were speeches from stakeholders, Chairman Allen Flynn, Chairman of Drama League of Ireland and adjudicators Paul Cusack and Anna Walker. 

My guest blogger who saw all the performances felt that the adjudicators had got it right, althought Two by Jim Cartwright was his personal favourite.  Overall the consensus from the experts I spoke to were in agreement with the choices and readily agreed that Disco Pigs was a memorable piece. Anna Walker made the interesting point that there is a blurring of lines between amateur and professional scenes in Ireland and some of the most relevant theatre she has seen is on the amateur circuit. Perhaps being free of the commercial restraints gives the amateur societies  more freedom to present cutting edge work.

There was a sense of glee and collegiality as whole sections of the audience hooped and hollered and jumped up and down as the results were announced and this was particularly so from the local winners Corofin Dramatic Society  With many of the participants staying in town, patrons lingered in the foyer and the place  was buzzing with post performance adrenaline as the results were mulled over.  It was great to see Glór full for every performance. It was a very suitable venue for this endeavour.  Bravo! to the  Ennis Players and chairman Allen Flynn, who were excellent hosts and worked hard to make their guests feel at home.  Next year to Ballyduff in West Waterford  renowned for a long and proud tradition of amateur drama.  We'll be there!

An English pub, three sisters' secret & a suburban comedy - Session 3 of the One Act Finals

By Guest Blogger

The audience was all present and correct at 2pm for the 3rd session of the All Ireland One Act Plays. Despite the late night at the splendid Festival Club at the  Old Ground Hotel, the drama afficionados were all set. The foyer  chatter was about adjudicator Anna Walker and speculation as to  how she would mark the overall competition.
Master of Ceremonies John Finn has by now cemented his reputation as one of the out-of-competition stars of the  weekend. His serial jokes about Maria Moloney's mobile phone are delivered to comic perfection. I like his brief vignettes where he recoounts his backstage conversation with each company.

Reviews
First up was locals Corofin Dramatic Society with 'What's For Pudding' by David Tristram.  This was a suburban comedy much in the style of the Terry & June TV sitcom of the 70's /80's,  complete with drinks trolley. The play was directed by Eileen Lahiffe and she did a fine job in creating a very funny comedy. The plotline is about a  bored married, couple Jack (Peter Daffy) and Mary (Sandra Cox), who  interrupted on a Saturday evening by their friends Ted (Kevin Glynn) and Maureen (Maria McCahill) and Denis (Pat O'Reilly) and what follows is a number of gags that lead to thawing in the relationship.  Maria McCahill was the stand out character with a great sense of comic timing that wrung every bit of humour from the script. The set was terrific and could be any suburban sitting room.  The audience with lots of home town support loved this show and hooted with laughter at  the many scripted and visual jokes. A well delivered farce.

The second play was Two by Jim Cartwright presented by the Athlone Little Theatre and directed by Oliver Hegarty. This is a true gem of a play that is set in a North of England pub populated  with a range of  characters and centres around the landlord and landlady. In all there were 14 characters but only two actors. Anne Hoey played the landlady and John McGlynn was the landlord. I thought that John McGlynn was outstanding and his characters ranged from a genial 'mine host' through to a young schoolboy and  a brutal wife beater. Anne Hoey was particulary effective as the defeated wife. The final scene between two was delivered brilliantly and there were a few eyes dabbed around me. The play reminded me of The TV series Early Doors  with its pathos and Northern bluntness.  The set design was by Pat Finneran, lighting and sound by Paddy Martin with Bernie Naughton responsible for stage management and costumes. Two's  production and acting will surely be in the frame when the gongs are handed out. Bravo!

The third play this afternoon was The Donahue Sisters by Geraldine Aron which was directed by Dermot Hession. The company  was the Compántas Lír from  Claregalway. The three actresses in the play  were; Mary McCarthy, Breda Hannon and Mary Killackey and they formed a fine ensemble. The story is of  three middle aged women gathering in their parents' attic to relive memories. Their lives and loves have developed  in different ways but they quickly reconnect  and we get a scene of sisters with an indelible bond. However this is a strange bond as a memory is recalled and we  see them recreate a terror. The crime scene was compelling and I liked the changes in delivery as each spoke the  voice of the victim.
A fine piece of work very well produced.

John Hartery

Trip to 'Brighton' for silver anniversary

It is said prophets are not recognised in their own land . The same cannot be said of playwright Jim Nolan in the South Eastern capital, Waterford. Weeks after his play , the Gods Are Angry Miss Kerr had a run at the Theatre Royal,  his most recent play Brighton  (premiered in 2010) was reprised in the commissioning theatre, Garter Lane in the playwrights home town marking Nolan's 25th anniversary of writing for theatre.
 There was a full house on Saturday night for the final night before the company embark on a ten theatre national tour with the author himself in attendance. 

I enjoyed this production under director Ben Barnes and there were strong performances from Andrew Macklin, Gillian Hanna and Christopher Saul.  I hesitate before committing to a whole evening in the company of a relatively small cast and you couldn't help hoping the malevolent Father Mackey or the octagenarian bottom pincher might make an appearance but the production was sure footed and the writing had plenty of wit and humour to stop you itching for the remote control.  I particularly liked English actor, Christopher Saul's voice which had the resonant quality to it  one would expect from an RSC thespian.

In Brighton, in tandem with the sense of an ode to the the triumph of the human spirit, Nolan returns to  a theme explored in The Salvage Shop, namely  the therapeutic power of amateur music  making. Lily is propelled out of her death bed and  anti social Jack is galavanised by the project of forming a choir. Jack's  appeal to Lily has the same quality as Syvie's speech about the imperfect performance in the local town hall being just as important as a Pavarotti concert in one of the world's best venues, a sentiment which has given me much encouragement over the years. It is the striving is the thing , not the end result which matters.

I was reminded of my visits to Cahercalla Community Hospital in Ennis and of the late Jim Cleary who played his accordion every day until he passed away last year at the age of 93. Even as he belted out  The Bucks of Oranmore or the Stone Outside Dan Murphy's Door in a faltering tempo, I had a sense that there was just as much heart to his performance as any on the  Glór stage and never failed to be moved by his playing, his audience just as important as any at a glittering first night,  

Lily's glee at her initiation into the world of gambling recalled  my own  introduction to the world of yankees and trebles and trips to the betting shop when the tedium of the routine of lab work at a Dublin hospital was relieved by the  daily betting routine around a Cheltenham Race week. What fun!

Afficionados in the audience included local writer and broadcaster Éibhear Walsh and his mother. The Cork based acadamic  tells me that he is looking forward to reading from his  memoir, Cissie's Abbatoir  in the study hall of his old alma mater, De La Salle College for the forthcoming Imagine Festival.   Contralto Anne Woodworth spoke to me about her current academic research project into music and health. We also spotted troubadour Francie White who gave a memorable performance during last years festival and will be performing again this year with Dunmore East guitar supremo Gerry Power. 

Link below to Una Kealy's review for the Irish Theatre Magazine
http://www.irishtheatremagazine.ie/Reviews/Current/Brighton