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HOLYCROSS www.tipperarydrama.ie Email: donal@dugganvet.ie<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Festival Director : Donal M. Duggan, Holycross, Co.Tipperary Phone: 086-257 5159 donal@dugganvet.ie<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Adjudicator: Geoff O’Keeffe<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friday 20th (O)<\/span> \u2013 Heaven \u2013 Balally Players -By Eugene O\u2019Brien<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday 21st (C)<\/span> \u2013 Moonglow \u2013 Tinahely D.G. -By Kim Carney<\/span><\/p>\n Sunday 22nd (O)<\/span> \u2013 I Never Sang For My Father \u2013 Clontarf D.G. – By Robert Anderson<\/span><\/p>\n Monday 23rd (C)<\/span> \u2013 The Burned Man – Formite Production – By Patrick Fogarty<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday 24th (O)<\/span> \u2013 Sive \u2013 Holycross\/Ballycahill D.G. – By John B. Keane<\/span><\/p>\n Wednesday 25th (O)<\/span> \u2013 DA \u2013 Brideview D.G. – By Hugh Leonard<\/span><\/p>\n Thursday 26th (O)<\/span> \u2013 Dancing at Lughnasa \u2013 Thurles D.G. – By Brian Friel<\/span><\/p>\n Friday 27th (C)<\/span> \u2013 The Salvage Shop \u2013 Nenagh D.G. – By Jim Nolan<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday 28th (C)<\/span> \u2013 Greta Garbo Came to Donegal \u2013 Clann Machua – By Frank McGuinness<\/span><\/p>\n ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–<\/span><\/p>\n Friday 20th (O)<\/span> Heaven – Balally Players – By Eugene O\u2019Brien<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: Heaven by Eugene O\u2019Brien follows Mal and Mairead, a middle-aged couple returning to Mairead\u2019s hometown for a family wedding. Over the course of one weekend, they find themselves surrounded by memories, old friends, and the ghosts of their past. As they drink, dance, and reminisce, their story moves between the funny and the deeply emotional. What starts as a trip home becomes a moment of reckoning \u2014 about love, aging, loyalty, and the choices that shape a life together. Heaven captures the intimacy and complexity of long relationships \u2014 full of warmth, regret, and small moments of grace. It\u2019s a play about ordinary people trying to make sense of where they\u2019ve come from and where they\u2019re going, finding something close to redemption in the process. Heaven won the Irish Times Award for Best New Play in 2022. Age Guidance – 14 + \/ Strong language and adult themes.<\/span><\/p>\n Group\u00a0 Information: Based in Balally, a suburb in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area of Dublin city between the villages of Dundrum and Sandyford, the Balally Players Theatre Company has been part of the amateur theatre movement in Ireland since its first performance in 1983. Amateur Drama is the most widely enjoyed arts activity in Ireland. We believe drama is an inclusive activity and we aim to offer all our members the opportunity for creative expression through a broad and diverse spectrum of work. Most years, we produce one or two full length productions, a Christmas Variety show, competitive one-act and longer plays for the festival circuit and a summer Shakespeare. Workshops designed to improve our skills are on-going throughout the year. The company has presented high standard theatrical productions in a wide range of genres over the years. Balally Players started competing on the Drama Festival circuit in Ireland in the late 1980s. The group has enjoyed considerable success on the One-Act Festival Circuit. Members have taken plays to France, Denmark, Canada and the USA. In August 2009 Balally Players was chosen to represent Ireland at the Mondial du Theatre (World Festival of Theatre) in Monaco. In July 2015 Balally Players was invited as one of many contributions from amateur drama groups around the world to perform Guests of the Nation at the \u2018Spots op West\u2019 theatre festival in Belgium organised by the International Amateur Theatre Association.<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday 21st (C)<\/span> Moonglow – Tinahely\u00a0 D.G. – By Kim Carney<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: Maxine, a feisty, bitter Alzheimer\u2019s victim, doesn\u2019t want to move into a nursing facility. But when she meets Joe, a widower who shares her love for dance, her outlook begins to change. Although the two clash when lucid, their hazy memories overlap, and they begin an affair that rejuvenates and fulfills them. But can these lovers — played simultaneously by an elderly twosome and a young, vivacious couple — stay together despite their families\u2019 wishes and their fading vitality?<\/span><\/p>\n History of the Group: Tinahely Variety Group (TVG) was founded in 1993 and have been a vibrant part of the local arts scene ever since. The group have enjoyed entering the A.D.C.I. drama competitions over the years and made it to the All-Ireland 1-Act Finals with two one-act plays \u201cThe Typist\u201d in 2005 and \u201cA Galway Girl\u201d in 2010.\u00a0 TVG competed in the ADCI Full Length Confined Drama Festivals with \u201cEclipsed\u201d by Patricia Burke Brogan in 2019, Sean O\u2019Casey\u2019s \u201cJuno and the Paycock\u201d in 2020 and in 2024 were delighted to reach the All-Ireland Confined Finals in Claremorris with \u201cThy Will Be Done\u201d by Michael Carey, marking a proud and significant achievement in their ongoing drama journey. For the 2026 circuit we welcome.<\/span><\/p>\n We are newcomers to the stage and our group and look forward to bringing \u201cMoonglow\u201d to the stage and making.<\/span><\/p>\n Sunday 22nd (O)<\/span> \u2013 I Never Sang For My Father \u2013 Clontarf D.G. – By Robert Anderson<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: I Never Sang for My Father is a quietly devastating exploration of family, duty and emotional distance. Through memory and confrontation, Gene reflects on his complex relationship with a formidable, emotionally guarded father, and the moments of closeness that never quite arrived. Robert Anderson\u2019s classic drama examines love withheld, expectations inherited, and the cost of what remains unsaid..<\/span><\/p>\n Group Information: Clontarf Players is a theatre group, founded in 2015 and based in Clontarf, Dublin. Each year, they perform a play in November in the Sean O\u2019Casey Theatre, East Wall.Past productions include A Man for All Seasons, Drama At Inish, Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. This is the third time the group have performed in the Open category.<\/span><\/p>\n Monday 23 (C)<\/span> \u201cThe Burned Man By Patrick Fogarty : Fomire Productions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: \u00a0\u00a0Deep in the Slieve Bloom Moun-tains, in a lonely cabin lit by firelight,a scarred man holds two strangers captive. As the snow falls outside, their night unravels into confes- sion, absurdity, and revelation. Elijah Bright \u2014 \u201cthe Burned Man\u201d \u2014 seeks vengeance for the fire that killed his <\/span>wife. But as the truth flickers to life, nothing is as it seems, and the line <\/span>between victim and villain burns away.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Group Information: Fom\u00f3ire Productions is a brand new theatre group founded by Patrick Fogarty and\u00a0 Daniel Murray, and this is our first theatre show as a new group. Based in Tullamore,\u00a0we hope to make new original theatre and to showcase it around Ireland.<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday 24th (O)<\/span> Sive – Holycross\/Ballycahill D.G. – by John B. Keane<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: Powerful and provocative, Sive is the story of greed and bitterness, of a scheming matchmaker and a resentful woman forcing a beautiful young girl to marry an old man.Set against the harsh poverty and difficult times of 1950s Ireland, Sive caused considerable controversy on its debut in February 1959.Since then it has become an established part of Ireland\u2019s theatrical canon.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c I put everything into the writing of the play. For me, writing the final cene was one of the most profound moments of my life, and I found myself overwhelmed by emotion\u2026\u201d John B. Keane<\/span><\/p>\n Group Information: Holycross-Ballycahill Drama Group was founded in 1966. Its first production \u201c Professor Tim\u201d took to the stage in the spring of 1967 and for the next five years the group played to the local community. All that changed when the group decided to compete in the three act festival circuit. They entered in the rural section, which in later years became the Confined section. The Group has entertained audiences all over Ireland with their productions of a diversity of plays, with The Vigil, Murder in the Cathedral, Lovers, The Year of the Hiker, Semi Private, Up and Running, God of Carnage and Little Gem. In 2019 they won The All Ireland Confined with The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Since qualifying for the Open Section the Group has performed A Skull in Connamara and Dancing at Lughnasa.<\/span><\/p>\n Wednesday 25th (O)<\/span> DA – Bridgeview D.G – bu Hugh Leonard<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: The story revolves around the living memories of Charlie, a grown man who returns home to Ireland after the death of his father only to find the old man\u2019s presence still very much alive Through a series of flashbacks and interactions with both living and memory characters, the narrative unfolds in a non-linear fashion, allowing audiences to witness the evolution of Charlie\u2019s thoughts and feelings about his father and their shared history.<\/span><\/p>\n Group Information: Brideview Drama are based in Tallow Co. Waterford. The group was formed in the late 1980s and began competing in the early 90s, winning the confined 3Act in 2005 with \u2018Moonshine\u2019 by Jim Nolan. They qualified for the Open All-Ireland Finals for the first time in 2018 with \u2018Stolen Child\u2019, finishing in second place. They reached the finals again in 2019 with \u2018Philadelphia, Here I Come\u2019 finishing in 3rd place. In 2024, Brideview Drama achieved 2nd. Place in the Open All Ireland Final of the One Act competition with \u2018Save Me\u2019 written by Mark O\u2019Leary.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2025 the group performed The Weir by Conor McPherson and once more qualified for the All Ireland in Ath-<\/span><\/p>\n Brideview annually stage a very successful Autumn production in their local community, which gives the youth of the area an opportunity to get involved and enjoy drama.<\/span><\/p>\n Thursday 26th (O)<\/span> – Dancing at Lughansa – Thurles D.G. – by Brian Friel<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: Brian Friel\u2019s deeply moving memory play is set in the rural backwater of Ballybeg, Co Donegal during August of 1936. It is told through the eyes of Michael, now an adult, who is casting his mind back to hazy childhood memories of that sunny summer. Dancing at Lughnasa is a domestic drama that captures the lives of the five unmarried Mundy sisters: Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Rose and Chris. It is the study of their unquenchable passions, thwarted desires and yearnings as they navigate a meagre existence in their small, impoverished household. They are vibrant women who are struggling for self-realisation within a bleakly restrictive, patriarchal society. Their fragile stability is disrupted by the return of their brother, Fr. Jack, home from Africa after twenty-five years as a missionary priest. It is further impacted by the occasional visits of Michael\u2019s charming but unreliable father, Gerry Evans. As the sisters listen to music from their crackling wireless set , they are overtaken by an irresistible impulse to dance. It is an outburst of rapture in which they momentarily escape the confines of duty and\u00a0 repression. With great poignancy and comic flourishes , Dancing at Lughnasa proves to be inexhaustibly enjoyable.<\/span><\/p>\n Group History:\u00a0 Thurles Drama Group has been competing on the three-act festival circuit for many years.\u00a0 They have reached the All-Ireland Finals in Athlone on numerous occasions\u2019 most recently in 2023 with The Seafarer by Conor McPherson.<\/span><\/p>\n The Group was founded fifty-nine years ago and to mark the fiftieth anniversary published a book entitled\u00a0 \u201cThem Was Days\u201d They stage two productions yearly in the Source Arts Centre in Thurles. Occasionally, a Soiree of Theatre is also staged, with the objective of fostering new acting and directing talent.\u00a0 The productions encompass all genres of Theatre and writing.<\/span><\/p>\n After many years of fundraising the group purchased an old parish hall\/cinema in Thurles,\u00a0 and it was recently renovated as a rehearsal and set-building space.\u00a0 The Brid Ryan Drama Centre was oficially opened in 2023 Thurles Drama Group is part of the cultural fabric of the town.\u00a0 The Society has a keen sense of community,\u00a0 and the proceeds of each opening night are donated to a local charity or community group.<\/span><\/p>\n Friday 27th (C)<\/span> The Salvage Shop Nenagh D.G. By Jim Nolan<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: The play is set in Garris, a small coastal Irish town in Summer, early 1990\u2019s. Act 1 Scene 1: The Salvage Shop, early Summer, night Scene 2: Early afternoon, the following day Scene3: Ten o\u2019clock that evening Scene 4: Following night 15 minute interval Act 2 Scene 1: Saturday afternoon, some weeks later Scene 2: Ten days later Scene3: A week later Scene 4: Night, a week late.<\/span><\/p>\n The story takes place in a cluttered repair shop where Sylvester \u201cSylvie\u201d Tansey mends broken furniture and other items in need of restoration. Running the salvage shop is Sylvie\u2019s job, but being the bandmaster of the Garristown Brass Band is his passion. For years, he has been grooming his son Eddie to take over the coveted position of bandmaster when he retires. Alas, like many of the damaged objects in his shop, Sylvie\u2019s relationship with his son has fallen into disrepair. A deep rift has developed between them, a result of Eddie having abandoned his father just before an allimportant national music contest, years before. Ultimately, this is a story about reconciliation, and the redemptive power of mutual understanding and forgiveness. Along the way, audiences travel an emotional road paved with deep sadness, joy, triumph, and humour.<\/span><\/p>\n Group History: The Nenagh Players group was founded in 1943 and has been very active every year since. They won the All Ireland Confined Finals in 1998 with \u201cFlight to Grosse Ile \u201c by Jim Minogue and again in 2000 with \u201cApril Bright \u201c by Dermot Bolger. They moved into the Open section in 2002 and have won many individual awards since then. They have qualified for the Athlone finals on seven occasions.They have not competed on the festival circuit for the last number of years but are delighted to be back again this year.<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday 28th (C)<\/span> Greta Garbo Came to Donegal – Clann Machua – bu Frank McGuinnes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Synopsis of Play: Ireland is on the verge of violent change, two couples are on the verge of ending, a woman tries to save her family, a girl tries to save her future. Above it all but in the midst of things, determining what happens next, is the loveliest and loneliest of all women, the great Garbo. But when the gods arrive, they can cause havoc, not least to themselves, as the divine Greta learns.<\/span><\/p>\n Group Information: Kiltimagh has had a long tradition of Amateur Dramatics going all the way back to the formation of the Kiltimagh\u2019s \u201cYoung Mens\u201d Association in 1906. Until the mid-1990\u2019s, there were various active drama & musical groups within the community.<\/span><\/p>\n The seeds of the current organisation were sown in 2001, when a group came together to perform \u2018Big Maggie\u2019 by Sean B. Keane. It wasn\u2019t until 2010 however when Clann Machua Drama Group officially formed to revive the great drama tradition in Kiltimagh. The Group\u2019s first production was in 2011 performing \u2018A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer\u2019s Assistant\u2019 by Tom Murphy<\/span><\/p>\n The group hosts its annual ADCI one act festival in November each year and are regular participants on the one act drama circuit.<\/span><\/p>\n The group also participate in the full-length circuit performing Sean O\u2019Casey\u2019s \u2018Juno & The Paycock\u2019 & \u2018The Cripple of Inishmaan\u2019 by Martin McDonagh. As well as taking \u2018Sive\u2019 and \u2018Stolen Child\u2019 and \u2018 The Snapper\u2019 to the All-Ireland Finals in 2022, 2024 and 2025 respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE CO. TIPPERARY DRAMA 2026 HOLYCROSS www.tipperarydrama.ie Email: donal@dugganvet.ie Festival Director : Donal M. Duggan, Holycross, Co.Tipperary Phone: 086-257 5159 donal@dugganvet.ie Adjudicator: Geoff O’Keeffe 2026 Festival Plays: Friday 20th (O) \u2013 Heaven \u2013 Balally Players -By Eugene O\u2019Brien Saturday 21st (C) \u2013 Moonglow \u2013 Tinahely D.G. -By Kim Carney Sunday 22nd (O) \u2013<\/p>\n2026 Festival Plays:<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
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