Awards galore for Butt Drama Circle's festival play

The Butt Drama Circle's 2022 festival play has been scooping awards all over the country this month and looks a strong contender for a place at this year's All-Ireland Drama Final at the Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone in May.

'An Incident With Dave Cotter' is set against the background of the events of Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972 when 20 years later a solider involved on that fateful day is confronted by one of the relatives about his actions and over time the effects it had on other people's lives.

It's a two man show. Long-time drama circle member, Shaun Byrne wrote, directs and stars in the production. He is joined by Christopher Quinn. Together they weave a tale that has kept audiences challenged, enthralled, entertained and ultimately wondering about all those people who were touched by the event.

The performances have certainly impressed a number of adjudicators to date with the production winning an impressive number of accolades over the four festivals attended to date.

In Enniskillen for example the adjudicator, David Grant, a lecturer in drama at Queen's University who directs for the Lyric Theatre, Belfast said he was very moved by the production.

He said his initial doubts and worries that the subject matter might prove too difficult to translate effectively to the stage were thankfully dismissed. He ended his judging by saying: "A very demanding work that holds its own with the best of recent Irish writing".

The success start on their first night out, March 3 at the Millbank Theatre, Rush, Co Dublin for the Rush Drama Festival where Shaun Byrne picked up the Best Actor award, and the performance itself came third in the Open section.

Next it was on to the Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh on March 6 where the play picked up three of its top awards: Blue Ribbon - Best Overall Production; Best Play and Best Moment in Theatre - Dave's speech (Shaun Byrne). Both Shaun and Christopher were nominated for the Best Actor Award too.

On March 11 the show moved on to the Western Drama Festival in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo and once again it swept the boards winning the Blue Ribbon - Best Overall Production; Best Play; Best Actor (Shaun Byrne); Best Light (Ash Boyce); Best Sound (Ciaran O'Neill); Best Set Design (Shaun Byrne) as well as another nomination for Christopher for Best Actor.

Their last outing was on Saturday last, March 12 when the drama circle made its way to the South Leinster Drama Festival in Gorey, Co Wexford. This time they finished in third place with an Adjudicator's Award and a nomination once again for Christopher for Best Actor.

The show now moves on to festivals in Cavan next Sunday, March 20; Carrickmore, Co Tyrone on March 29; Newtownstewart on April 2 before finishing up in Kildare on April 4.