2006 Festival

2006 Tipperary Drama Festival

CONFINED

1st – Muinter na Tire Cup : “Up and Running”, Holycross Drama Group

2nd : “Our Lady of Sligo”, Skibbereen Drama Group

3rd : “Sive”, Droichead Nua

BEST ACTOR : Derek Doherty as Patrick in “Up and Running” Holycross Drama Group

BEST ACTRESS : Carmel O’Driscoll as Mai in “Our Lady of Sligo” Skibbereen D.G.

BEST SUPP. ACTOR : Owen Murray as Mike Glavin in “Sive” Droichead Nea Players

BEST SUPP. ACTRESS : Tricia Lowry as Jenn in “Up and Running” Holycross D.G.

BEST PRODUCER : Geraldine Henchion, Holycross D.G.

 

OPEN

1st – TIPP FM Trophy: “Train Spotting”, Silken Thomas Players

2nd : “The Drawer Boy”, Nenagh D.G.

3rd : “Son of Man”, Palace Players

BEST ACTOR : Joe Mullins as Jesus in “Son of Man” Palace Players, Fermoy

BEST ACTRESS : Emma Jane Dempsey as Lizzie in “Train Spotting” Silken Thomas Players

BEST SUPP. ACTOR : John McKenna as Myles in “The Drawer Boy” Nenagh D.G.

BEST SUPP. ACTRESS :Sandra Dunne as Beck in “Mai” Thurles D.G.

BEST PRODUCER : Sean Judge, Silken Thomas Players

OVERALL

HANNIFIN CUP : Brideview D.G. Tallow “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”

GALLAGHER AWARD : for most promising actor/actress – Conor O’Connell as Renton in “Train Spotting” Silken Thomas Players

SCHOLARSHIP : Tricia Lowry, Holycross D.G.

Dr. MORRIS MEMORIAL CUP : [Tipperary Group]Nenagh D.G.

BEST SET OVERALL : [Josie Slattery Perpetual Trophy] . Ballyduff D.G. “Orphans”

1st ADJUDICATOR AWARD : Joanie Hanley, Palace Players (Costumes)

2nd ADJUDICATOR AWARD : Barry Comerford as J P Murphy in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, Brideview D.G.

CERTIFICATES OF MERIT : (1) Hilda Hegarty as Sister “Our Lady of Sligo”; (2) Thomas Quirkefor Lighting in “Son of Man”; (3) Noreen Quinlavan for sound in “TrainSpotting”; (4) Jonny O’Donnell for the Set in “Drawer Bo”; (5) Crispin Welby for Character Acting in “Up and Running”

SCHOOLS WINNER: St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Doon

 

Synopsis of the plays and history of the groups

Friday March 17th 2006         Confined

Up and Running by Derek Benfield       Holycross Drama Group

The Play: Veteran TV talk show host, Patrick Summer, is desperate to impress his new producer, Reg Godfrey, who visits Patrick’s smart Dublin flat for drinks. But Patrick doesn’t count on the intervention of Jenny, a pretty girl who arrives on the same evening as Reg, intent on infiltrating Patrick’s private life and even passing herself off as his wife.

As the mayhem spirals, Patrick’s real wife returns unexpectedly from a Paris trip. He is forced into a series of spiralling lies and subterfuge. With the reluctanthelpof his bed-hopping friend, Trevor, Patrick valiantly tries to get rid of Jenny and to convince his wife he is not having an affair. Most importantly, though, he tries to save his career which is already on a downward curve, after poor reviews in the tabloids and is at the mercy of the puritanical Reg.

The group: In existence for well over thirty years, the group has competed and won in many festivals. We have reached the All-Ireland Confined Finals on many occasions, picking up several directing, acting and setting awards along the way. We have staged critically acclaimed productions from Sive by John B. Keane, Run for your Wife by Ray Cooney to Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot.

 

Saturday March 18th 2006    Confined

Our Lady of Sligo by Sebastian Barry      Skibbereen Drama Group

The Play: In Jervis St. Hospital, in Dublin, in 1953, Mai O’Hara lies dying attended by a nursing sister and visited by the uneasy figures of her husband, Jack, her daughter, Joanie and her dead father.  Fuelled by alcohol, passion and despair, this is the story of her flamboyant but destructive relationship with Jack, the lost country of her childhood and the unfulfilled expectations of a generation in the wake of Irish independence.

The group: Having returned to the festival circuit in 1998 after a long absence, the group has featured in four Confined Finals since 2000. It’s most successful campaigns have been 2004 when it came second in Warrenpoint with “Stolen Child” by Bairbre Ní Chaoimh and Yvonne Quinn, and 2005 when Billy Roche’s Cavalcaders gained second place once again in Tralee. Previous final offerings were Brian Friel’s Lovers in 2000 and Lover’s Meeting by Louis Dalton in 2002.

Sunday March 19th 2006   Open

The Drawerboy by Michael Healy     Nenagh Drama Group

The Play: It is 1972 and a self-absorbed young Toronto actor, Miles, arrives on a small farm to do hand-on research for an up and coming role in a play about country life.  He is sent to live with two middle-aged farmers, Morgan who is not too thrilled with the young city dweller and Angus who is unable to remember that the young actor is there due to a head injury sustained in London during World War II. Miles unwittingly stumbles upon the truth about their past and, as a result, their lives are forever altered. What begins as an amusing portrayal of rural and urban culture clash slowly peels away layers of forgotten truth and lies exposing hidden secrets of love and tragedy.

The group:  Founded in 1943, the Nenagh Players have presented at least one production every year since. They won the Confined All-Ireland in 1998 with Flight to Grosse Ile written and directed by Jim Minogue. They won the Confined All-Ireland again in 2000 at Ballyduff with their production of Dermot Bolger’s April Bright. They reached the finals in Athlone in 2002 with The Lonesome West, their first venture into the Open section.

 

Monday March 20th 2006 – Schools Competition

 

Tuesday March 21st 2006   Confined

Sive by John B. Keane   Droichead Nua Players

The Play: John B. Keane, a native of Listowel, where his family still reside and run the famous pub. Keane’s plays, be they tragedy or comedy, always blend in the bit of humour and the general public can always relate to his writing. His works include The Field, Many Young Men of 20, The Year of the Hiker and The Bodhran Maker.

The group:  Droichead Nua Players played the three-act circuit for the first time in 2005, participated in eight festivals, won all eight and went through to the All-Ireland Final for Confined Groups in Siamsa Tire, Tralee. There they sold out the venue with the ever popular The Kings of the Kilburn High Road.  The group finished third in the All-Ireland final and Mike Joe O’Connell was chosen Best Actor for his portrayal of Mairtin.

 Wednesday March 22nd 2006     Open

Train Spotters by Irvine Welsh    Silken Thomas Players

The play: A drug-fuelled roller coaster ride through the streets, pubs and dark recesses of Edinburgh life with a bunch of drop-outs, liars, psychos and junkies as they hurtle towards self destruction.

The group:  Silken Thomas Players have been competing on the full length Festival Circuit for 15 years. They were Confined All-Ireland Winners in 1991 with Stags and Hens and again in 2004 with Bent. In 2005, their first year competing in the Open section they qualified for the finals in Athlone with The Lieutenant of Inishmore and won the Best Stage Management Award.

 

Thursday March 23rd 2006       Open

The Mai by Marina Carr    Thurles Drama Group

The Play: The history of a family and their broken and cruel love remembered, recounted and relived by Mai’s eldest daughter. She fuses past, present and lore into a story as intimate, unique, disturbing, affectionate and recognisable as all family stories.

The group:  First entered the festival circuit in 1986, won the All-Ireland Confined and went from strength to strength in the Open Section. In 1996 their production of Dancing at Lughnasa made it to Athlone, followed by Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and Faith Healer in ‘97 and ‘98. In 2003 they qualified again with The Enemy Within and in 2004 won many awards with The Belfry. The group has a membership of 50 and produces two full length plays each year plus an evening of theatre where new and seasoned members get the opportunity to perform or direct short pieces from various plays.

 

Friday March 24th 2006    Open

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest    Brideview Drama Group, Tallow

The Play: Randle P. McMurphy, seeking to escape imprisonment at a work-farm, feigns insanity and finds himself committed to a mental institution where he has to battle the absolute power and control of Nurse Ratched. His arrival there sets in motion a series of tragic events that affect all the patients, including himself.

The group:  This is our 5th year on the Festival Circuit and we won the Confined All-Ireland Finals in Tralee in 2005 with Jim Nolan’s Moonshine. This is our first venture into the Open Circuit and we look forward to providing great entertainment of a consistent high standard.

 

Saturday March 25th 2006    Open

Son of Man by Denis Potter   The Palace Players, Fermoy

The Play: This play tells the story of Jesus from his last day in the wilderness to his death on the cross. The occupying Romans in Jerusalem put down religious fanatics and their followers with brutality. Many died by crucifixion. Jesus, a man capable of friendship and anger, of doubt and laughter, is haunted by the question “Am I indeed the Messiah” and by the knowledge of his fate.

The group: Founded in the autumn of 1989, the Palace Players have become regular contenders in Festivals up an down the country. They were All-Ireland winners in the Confined Section in 1995 with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Their festival productions of recent years include Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West, Patrick Galvin’s The Last Burning, John B. Keane’s The Chastitute and, last year, Tom Murphy’s The Wake which took them to Athlone.

 

 Sunday March 26th 2006   Open

Orphans by Lyle Kessler      Ballyduff Drama Group

The Play: Orphaned brothers Treat and Philip live in a squalid Philadelphia tenement. Dominant sibling, Treat, fearful that he will lose his brother, keeps him imprisoned in their home and terrorises him with tales of what would happen were he to go outside. Treat, meanwhile, works the streets as a petty thief. He meets Harold, a prosperous-looking drunk. Thereafter things begin to change.

The group:  Ballyduff Drama Group has been performing on the Three Act Festival circuit for over twenty years. In that time they have won Best Production, Best Presentation, Best Stage Management and Best Actor awards at the Open All-Ireland Finals in Athlone.

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