Businesses to benefit from All-Ireland finals

ELEVEN drama groups, including one from Corofin, will be in Ennis this weekend taking part in the All-Ireland One Act Drama finals. The Ennis Players are hosting the competition, while all the performances will be in Glór.
Festival chairperson Allen Flynn said it is the second time the competition has been in the county town in a relatively short space of time.
“The first time they were held in Glór was 2003, eight years ago. There are about 50 groups throughout the country competing on the festival circuit at the moment and the top 11 will get to come and perform in Glór over that weekend and an overall national winner will be picked on the Sunday night.
“This is the second time we’ve had it and Ennis Players were delighted to be asked to host it again. We see it as a great compliment for the town that we were asked to host it for a second time so quickly. It complements one of the first shopping weekends of Christmas, with another 500 people in town for the drama festival.”
As well as providing a treat for local lovers of drama, it will give a shot in the arm to local businesses at a particularly difficult time.
“There are 500 bed nights for the weekend and it’s a chance for Ennis to showcase itself. Hopefully there will be lots of shopping done as well over the weekend. Last year it was held at the Mill Theatre in the Dundrum Shopping Centre and I spoke to people about it in January and the shops close by were extremely happy with the spend that came with it.
“The standard is extremely high and ticket sales are very brisk at the moment. Even though we might be in a recession, the love of theatre hasn’t waned at all. Even with the finals next week, the Supper Theatre is in Ennis for four nights this week. It’s a testament to the love of drama in the town.”
The plays will be 55 minutes or less in duration and he said Ennis players are organising it for two national organisations. “We are hosting it under the auspices of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland and the Drama League of Ireland. We will be the liasing link between the event in Glór and the participants. The 11 groups will perform over four programmes. There will be three per session and two on Sunday night and then a gala finale and the adjudicator, Anna Walker, will give a critique on the plays publicly and the winners in the confined and open sections will be announced.”
He said Ennis players have put a lot of work into organising the event. “I am absolutely thrilled with the commitment and the hard work of all the members of the committee.”
There are a variety of plays in the programme, some quite new and others of more mature vintage. According to Allen, all the groups that have qualified for the finals have put in a lot of work over the last few months.
“Those 50 groups that I was talking about have been travelling the length and breadth of Ireland on winding roads and in bad weather for the last eight weeks. They will compete in approximately eight festivals each to try and qualify.
“What the Ennis players are most pleased with is to have a facility like Glór for them to perform in. A lot of the preliminary festivals might take place in school halls or community centres, which wouldn’t have the front-of-house or lighting spec of Glór. It’s great that groups that get this far get to use those facilities. Regardless of winning, being able to get this far and getting to perform in a facility like Glór is an achievement in itself,” he concluded.