All-Ireland stage for Clare drama

THREE Clare drama groups are through to the All-Ireland stages of the drama circuit.
Corofin Dramatic Society will represent Clare for the first time in the open competition, which will take place in Athlone in May, while Sliabh Aughty Drama Group and Doonbeg Drama Group will perform in the confined section in Cavan at the end of April. 
This is the first time Corofin Dramatic Society haS qualified for the open All-Ireland competition. However, the group won the confined All-Ireland in 2008 and was elevated to the open category where the group has been competing for the last four years.
John Clancy who directs the Corofin entry, The Subject Was Roses, written by Frank D Gilroy, said it is a great feeling to have qualified and it is “sitting well” with the group as a whole.
“When the news came through, the feeling was just elation. You compete on the festival circuit and you count your best three festivals. The top nine groups qualify. So we knew going off to Cavan that we had qualified. We were a bit disappointed that we didn’t win anything in Cavan but we were delighted that we qualified,” he said.
Having competed in seven festivals, the society won at the West Clare Drama Festival in Doonbeg and at the Kerry Drama Festival in Castleisland. They came third at the Kildare Drama Festival.
Despite having competed in seven festivals, John says the hard work isn’t over and more performances are planned.
“Because we don’t want to feel like the newcomers, we are going to do a lot of work to bring up our standard. As someone said to us, ‘it’s only now that the work is going to start’. We are going to have to rejig the whole thing and make it that little bit slicker. We have Glór booked for April 29 and the All-Ireland is on the first week in May so we want to do a big show before we go and we are also planning two other shows in our local hall in Kilnaboy school.”
Meanwhile in East Clare, John Allen, producer with the Sliabh Aughty Drama Group, is delighted with their qualification in the confined All-Ireland festival having taken two wins and two seconds on the festival circuit with their play Thy Will Be Done by Michael Carey.
The group took the top accolade at the Mountmellick and Claremorris Drama Festivals and took two seconds at the Clare and Cavan Drama Festivals. They also picked up a number of awards along the way with Noel Hogan receiving three best actor awards and Geraldine Condren also taken a best actor award, while John Allen scooped a best producer award.  
The last time the drama group qualified for the All-Ireland was in 1996 so they are hoping they can do well in Shercock in County Cavan at the end of the month.
“The spirits are good and we are looking forward to it. Little did we know before Christmas that we would have this level of success. We are back rehearsing at the moment and we will be bringing the play back to Mountshannon on April 13 and 14 at Mountshannon Hall where doors open at 8pm and curtains go up at 8.30pm,” John revealed.
The qualification for Doonbeg Drama Group to this year’s All-Ireland is particularly special and a win at this level would be even better as it marks the groups 10th qualification for the All-Ireland.
The group won the West Clare Drama Festival in Doonbeg and the North Cork Drama Festival in Charleville and took second in Kilmuckridge Drama Festival in County Wexford and South Wicklow Drama Festival in Carnew, County Wicklow. The group also qualified from five festivals where the maximum they can perform at is eight.
Mary Egan is producing their play The Weir by Conor McPherson. She added McPherson is the one to watch at this All-Ireland as another group are performing the same play in the same category and a further group will perform it for the All-Ireland open competition. Furthermore, another play of McPherson’s, The Seafarer, appears twice in the open All-Ireland.
The play itself is set in a bar in rural Ireland and features four men, one who arrives with a female visitor from Dublin. The men begin to tell her spooky stories to impress her. But as Mary explains, “As the night goes on, they expose their own lives and she ends up telling these four strangers her story, which is very tragic”.
“For a play it’s probably unusual in that there are five monologues and they are quite long and are very demanding on the actors. It’s a series of monologues some people love it and some people don’t. I love the play and my cast loves it as it’s an actor’s play. There are five people and they are on the stage for an hour and three quarters so there is nowhere to hide,” Mary outlined.
She said she is particularly delighted to have qualified as it is her first time producing since she started out as an actress with the drama group. She is hoping this is the group’s year.
“The best we would have done was in 2006 when we came second and the ironic thing is that we were beaten by a group who were doing The Weir. We’ll do our best. I am very confident with the cast we have. They are very experienced and I have great confidence in them – I wouldn’t have tackled it without that,” Mary revealed.
The cast and crew have also being doing well as the Doonbeg Drama Group took awards for best actor, best producer, best supporting actor, best set and lighting and most entertaining play.
The RTÉ All-Ireland Open Drama Festival takes place at the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone from Thursday, May 3 to Friday, May 11, while the All-Ireland Confined Final takes place in The Community Centre, Shercock, County Cavan from April 20 to 28.