2003 Festival

2003 Tipperary Drama Festival

 

CONFINED

1st : Muinter na Tire Cup : “Absent Friends” Holycross/Ballycahill D.G.

2nd : “The Way You Look to Night” Skibbereen D.G.

3rd : “Dry Rot” Compantas Lir, Claregalway

BEST ACTOR : Gerry Maye as Padraig O’Dea “The Man From Clare” Tubbercurry

BEST ACTRESS : Geraldine Henchion as Diana “Absent Friends” Holycros/Ballycahill

BEST SUPP. ACTOR : Martin O’Neill as John “Absent Friends” Holycross/Ballycahill

BEST SUPP. ACTRESS : Noelle Mekitarian as Nellie Brick “Man From Clare” Tubbercurry

BEST PRODUCER : Pat McGrath , Holycross/Ballycahill D.G

 

OPEN

1st : TIPP FM Trophy: “The Enemy Within” Thurles D.G.

2nd : “The Weir” Moate Club, Naas

3rd : “Steel Magnolias” Classic Revival, Dublin

BEST ACTOR : Joe Boyle as Colomba “The Enemy Within” Thurles D.G.

BEST ACTRESS : Ann Delaney as Valerie “The Weir” Moate Club, Naas

BEST SUPP. ACTOR : Tommy Kennedy as Caornan “The Enemy Within ,Thurles D.G.

BEST SUPP. ACTRESS : Elaine Lawlor as Catherine “A View from the Bridge”Carlow

BEST PRODUCER : Liam Ryan, ”The Enemy Within” Thurles D.G.

 

OVERALL

HANNIFIN CUP : Moate Club, Naas, “The Weir”

GALLAGHER AWARD : for most promising actor/actress –  Angela Galvin as Ger, Skibbereen

SCHOLARSHIP : Aishling Green-Madden as Shelby “Steel Magnolias”.

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

BEST SET OVERALL : [Josie Slattery Perpetual Trophy] “A View from a Bridge” Carlow

1st ADJUDICATOR AWARD :Philip Cribbin as Colonel Wagstaff “Dry Rot” Compantas Lir

2nd ADJUDICATOR AWARD : Jim Woodlock as Dochanna “Enemy Within” Thurles D.G.

 

SCHOOLS WINNER

“” First Year,  Presentation Convent Ballingarry

 

Synopsis of the plays and history of the groups

 

Friday 21st March (Confined) Absent Friends by Alan Ayckburn, Holycross/Ballycahill D.G.

Sponsored by Michael Lowry T.D.

The Play: Colin’s friends are determined to comfort him in his grief over the death of his fiancee – a girl they have never met. They arrange a tea party for him and are understandably on edge, wondering what to say to him as they await his arrival. Their unease, however, has deeper roots as they are all kept together by a mixture of business and cross-marital emotional ties, and by the time Colin arrives their tension contrasts dramatically with his cheerfully relaxed air.

 

The Group: In existence for well over thirty years, the group has competed and won many festivals all over Ireland. We have reached the All-Ireland Confined Finals on many occasions, picking up several directing, acting and setting awards along the way. We have performed and 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 22nd March (Confined) The Way You Look Tonight by Niall Williams, Skibbereen D.G.

Sponsored by Shannon Development

The Play: ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ is a powerful memory play by Niall Williams, who is probably better known as a novelist. First performed by Druid in 1998, the play harnesses the rollercoaster of emotions that grip a couple, and their grown-up children who have fled the coop, on the day the manual telephone exchange they operated all their lives in a small rural village is taken out of commission. The end of this era has greater repercussions than any of them could ever have imagined.

The Group: Skibbereen Theatre Society has had various incarnations over several decades. In the past five years, they have made the All-Ireland Confined Drama Finals twice, with Brian Friel’s ‘Lovers’ in 2000 and Louis Dalton’s ‘Lovers’ in 2002.

 

 

Sunday 23rd March (Open) A Delicate Balance by Edwin Alby, Crossbridge D.G, Dublin

Sponsored by Tipperary Institute

The Play: This play is about the rigidity and ultimate paralysis which afflicts those who settle in too easily, waking up one day to discover that all the choices they have avoided no longer give them any freedom of choice, and that what choices they do have left are besides the point.

The Group: Crossbridge Players was formed two years ago to develop the talents of our local area. This year we are expanding and launching ourselves upon an unsuspecting public. Following our run in Andrews Lane, we go onto the Three Act Drama Circuit.

 

Monday 24th March – Schools Drama Festival

Sponsored by An Garda Síochana

10:30 am&8:00 pmfollowed by results and awards

 

Tuesday 25th March (Open) The Enemy Within by Brian Friel, Thurles D.G.

Sponsored by Ulster Bank

The Play: The play follows five eventful weeks in the lives of the monks, priests and novices of Iona, in particular Columba the Abbot. Facing continuous challenges and pressures both within and outside his monasteries, Columba is finally driven to making a chilling and perhaps controversial decision when faced again with a domestic ecclesiastical dilemma bringing the play to a dramatic climax. Set on the Island of Iona (off the West Coast of Scotland in the autumn of 587 AD).

The Group: Fairly regular competitors on the festival circuit, Thurles Drama have a proud and distinguished record, winning many awards in virtually every category. Our last festival play was 2001’s ‘Da’ which unfortunately coincided with the ‘foot and mouth’ crisis. Our golden years were 1996, ’97 and ’98 when we reached Athlone with ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, ‘Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me’ and ‘Faithhealer’ respectively. At home we regularly perform plays by John B. Keane and Bernard Farrell among others.

 

Wednesday 26th March  (Confined) Dry Rot by John Chapman, Compántas Lir, Claregalway

Sponsored by Rockwell College

The Play: The play is set in an old manor house in Ireland. It is now owned by a retired English Colonel and his wife. They run it as a small hotel with thehelpof their daughter Susan and a maid called Beth. A businessman from Ireland, his secretary, his helper and a friend come over to stay or a few days. Things are not what they seem to be and as the plot unfolds we find out that these are not honest people but crooks who want to switch a horse in a big race. A jockey also comes to stay at this hotel and gets caught up in the mayhem that occurs. This play is an hilarious farce and full of action throughout. The Group: Compántas Lir was founded in 1982 and is based in Claregalway. Each autumn they run a successful supper theatre.

The group: We have enjoyed considerable success on the Festival circuit since 1986, has qualified for the All-Ireland Confined Finals on a number of occasions.

 

Thursday 27th March (Open) A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, Carlow Little Theatre

Sponsored by Dundrum House Hotel

The Play: The arrival of two Sicilian immigrants to work illegally on the docks in New York, brings to the surface the hidden tensions within an American-Italian family. The action of the play takes place in Red Hook in the 1950’s. The composite setting includes the Carbone apartment, the street outside and Attorney Alfieri’s office.

The Group: Carlow Little Theatre Society is one of the oldest drama societies in the country. Founded in 1945, members have presented full-length productions every year since the groups inception. Indeed the LTS has often staged two or three full-length plays in the same year and has also been known to present up to six one-act productions in a season. Carlow Little Theatre Society has three All-Ireland One-Act titles to its credit and has on two occasions represented Ireland in International Festivals – the most recent of these was the 1997 World Theatre Festival in Monaco.

 

Friday 28th March (Open) Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, Classic Revival D.g. Dublin

Sponsored by Thurles Credit Union Ltd.

The Play: Set in a hair salon in America in the recent past are six women.

The Group: We founded in order to do old classic films seldom seen on stage, starting with ’12 Angry Men’ with which we came second in the All-Ireland finals in Athlone in 2002, having won four Festivals and many awards on the way.

 

Saturday 29th March (Open) The Weir by Conor McPherson, Moate Group, Naas, Co. Kildare

The Play: Set in a bar in a remote part of Ireland the local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress Valerie, a young woman from Dublin, newly moved to the area. But she turns the tables on them . . . ‘The Weir’ has been widely acclaimed and the Moate Club is delighted to present the Irish amateur premier of this play.

The Group: The Moate Club was formed in the early 1950’s, its object being to provide Naas with suitable facilities for drama and table tennis. This the club succeeded in doing beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic of its members. In 1960 they bought the recently vacated Christian Brothers School. The building which began life as the first Penal Days Church in Naas derives its name from an ancient Moat – reputed to have connections with the Kings of Leinster – which is located nearby. Using the upper portion as a Table Tennis hall, members began their plans to convert the lower classrooms into a theatre. With a great deal of hard work and a lot of encouragement, a well equipped 125 seat theatre was opened in 1963. The All-Ireland three-act Drama Festival title came our way in 1974, 1979 and 2000 with ‘Abelard and Heloise,’ ‘The Crucible’ and ‘The Bog of Cats’.

 

Sunday 30th March  (Confined) The Man from Clare by John B. Keane, Phoenix Players, Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo

Sponsored by O’Dwyer Tarmac

The Play: Set in the early 1960’s the theme of the play is woven round an annual challenge match between the footballers of Cuas and Bealabawn. Both teams are drawn from tiny communities and each community viewed the annual game as a great sporting and social occasion. The events that take place over the course of the game and into the night afterwards mark a turning point in the life of the team captain, Padraic O’Dea. Recognised as the best footballer who ever came out of Clare, he is faced with the reality of age catching up with him. He has given his life to football and wonders where it has got him in terms of personal happiness. While his knees may no longer respond as they once did, for perhaps the first time in his life, he stands up on his own two feet.

The Group: Based in Tubercurry in South Sligo, the Phoenix Players was formed in 1945, just two years after the first Western Drama Festival which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The group has performed regularly on the festival circuit over the years with notable success throughout the 1980’s, qualifying for Confined and Open Finals., the phoenix players was formed in 1945, just two years after the first western drama festival which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. the group has performed regularly on the festival circuit over the years with notable success throughout the 1980’s, qualifying for confined and open finals.

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