Players bring Synge classic to life at finals

AHEAD of their competitive appearance in the RTÉ Open All-Ireland Drama Finals in Athlone next week, Ennis Players are putting their production up to the scrutiny of Clare audiences in Glór.
Ennis Players are competing in the All-Ireland open finals in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone, which are being held from this Friday to May 8. Their performance of JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, will take place next Thursday but they will treat local audiences to a precompetition staging at Glór on Monday and Tuesday.
In qualifying rounds, Ennis Players achieved maximum points, putting the players in the top four groups in the country. “This is a remarkable achievement for the group, considering this is the first time we have qualified for the three-act open finals,” Bernie Harten, chairperson of Ennis Players said.
Ennis Players are no strangers to success at open level having won the All-Ireland One-Act finals in 2004 with George Fitzmaurice’s The Dandy Dolls. They have also  won the All-Ireland three-act confined finals on two occasions with Ayckbourne’s Round and Round the Garden (1995) and The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh (2002) and the confined one-act finals in 2001 with James McLure’s Lone Star.
Ennis Players have competed on the festival circuit since the 1980s, recognising that this is the best vehicle for honing their skills in all aspects of theatre.
“We are absolutely thrilled at our success so far this year and we are all anxious to perform to our very best in the finals. It is a very big deal for us and we are very proud of this achievement,” Bernie added.
This year’s production is directed by Geraldine Greene, who also directed the All-Ireland one-act winners, Lone Star and The Dandy Dolls. Geraldine has been a successful director and actress with Ennis Players for many years and has been involved with all the All-Ireland winning productions, acting in Round and Round The Garden and The Beauty Queen of Leenane.
The Playboy has a large cast and the very energetic and physical crowd scenes see 18 people re-enacting Synge’s wonderful portrayal of community celebration, turning to viscous mob rule.
Joe Varden plays Christy Mahon (the playboy), with Bernie Harten as the Widow Quinn and Saoirse Byrne playing Peigín. Others featured in the production are Hugh Gallagher, Jackie Scanlan, Mick Loughnane, Eric Healy and Derek Crosbie. The play has won best play in Doonbeg, Carnew and Claremorris with Geraldine Greene picking up the best director accolade at the same festivals.
This is Bernie Harten’s 50th production with Ennis Players and has been involved with the group for over 21 years. “It has been a massive commitment but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each and every bit of it. This year has been the highlight for me to date, given how successful we’ve been. It would be wonderful to win the open finals but taking part is still wonderful for us,” she commented.
The play was cast at the beginning of December, with rehearsals starting just before Christmas.
“We’ve been rehearsing three nights a week since then and coming closer to competitions and performances, four nights a week. We all do it because we love it,” Bernie added.
This is the first time for Ennis Players has performed The Playboy of the Western World and Bernie admits itis an “enormously challenging” production. “The crowd scenes and fight scene are particularly challenging and are quite vicious at times. It is very difficult with the crowd scenes to choreograph that many people on stage at one time. It is a huge volume of work to get through and do justice to it,” she said.
She added that much of the credit for the success of the production is down to director Geraldine Greene. “She is very into the poetry of Synge’s language and has great respect for the beauty of his choice and use of words and phrases. That’s what comes across very strongly in the play,” she remarked.
She added that there is “phenomenal energy” in the play.
Ennis Players will also be featured on Nationwide on May 10, after the open finals. “RTÉ have already been down with us recording rehearsals and talking to some of the group. We are also very excited about that. They have been recording with all nine competitors of the final. The opening night and awards ceremony will also be televised,” Bernie said.
She added that they are not nervous about the final. “We feel that we know this play very well and that our commitment to it has been shown through the results of the qualifying competitions. Of course we are anxious though, because we want to give it our all. We have a large group of supporters coming with us, so we will have no shortage of critical feedback afterwards to perform even from our nearest and dearest. It will be wonderful to a full-house in a 480-seater theatre,” she remarked.