Ballyshannon Drama Festival celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland

Ballyshannon Drama Festival which takes place in the Abbey Arts Centre from March 12 to 19 marks the 70th anniversary of  the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland - of which Ballyshannon is a founder member.

Prior to the setting up of the All-Ireland drama circuit, individual festivals had operated, most notably the Western Drama Festival in Tubbercurry which is now in its 80th year. 

Ballyshannon had its first festival in April 1952 with Hilton Edwards adjudicating and the winners were Loreto Players Dublin with their production of ‘Bonaventure’ by Charlotte Hastings.

This year Ballyshannon Drama Society welcomes adjudicator Alan Haslett who is a member of the Association of Drama Adjudicators and the Guild of Drama Adjudicators.

Caption: This year's Ballyshannon Drama Festival poster  

Season tickets, at €70 for all 8 nights, are in high demand with more than 120 already sold. Booking is at the Abbey Centre, phone 07198 51375. Nightly tickets are available online at www.abbeycentre.ie  Nightly tickets are €15 euro (+ €1 booking fee) and concessions are €12 (+ €1 Booking fee). Curtain is at 8.15pm nightly and 7.30 pm on the final night - March 19.

This year’s programme is made up of three groups from Donegal (Ballyshannon Drama Society, Lifford Players, and Butt Drama Circle from Ballybofey), Newtownstewart Drama Group and Pomeroy Players from Tyrone, Prosperous Drama Society from Kildare, Theatre 3 from Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, and the Ray Leonard Players from Mayo.

Festival Director John Travers said: “Interest in this year’s festival is very keen, ticket sales have been strong, and it is apparent that people, having been curtailed due to the pandemic are now returning to live events in great numbers. We feel we offer a great range of entertaining and often challenging plays and this year’s plays will certainly entertain and ask questions of our audiences. It promises to be a great festival, so my advice is get your tickets as soon as you can.” 

Caption: Festival Director John Travers 

THE PLAYS

The festival opens on Sunday 12th with the Ray Leonard Players production of THE KINGS OF THE KILBURN HIGH ROAD by Jimmy Murphy.

In the mid 1970’s, six young men emigrate to London in the hope of making their fortunes and returning home. Twenty-five years later, they are still in London and only one is successful.

The five gather together in the back room of a pup to mourn their fallen friend Jackie Flavin - the only one to make it home, albeit in a coffin. (OVER 16 - strong language)

Monday March 13 - Lifford Players present a new play WHEN ELEPHANTS COLLIDE by Edward Flanagan. A tale of inheritance. A family in crisis. A father who doesn’t know which child to trust with his legacy. This fast paced play is interwoven with sibling rivalry,jealousy and greed  set in a 21st century Ireland anchored to 19th century traditions.

Tuesday March 14 - Newtownstewart Drama Group presents MIDDEN by Morna Regan. This is a sharp, funny, moving story of five women across three generations and a prodigal daughter’s return. It is a rich brew of family relationships, exploring how our history shapes our futures more than we may realise. It is warm, funny, moving, poignant and perceptive.

Wednesday 15 - Butt Drama Circle presents another new play by Shaun Byrne - DARKNESS ECHOING. The play is a three-hander family drama set in present day Ballybofey, which mixes serious themes with dark humour. It’s 2015 and Joe returns home to Donegal from London after some years away. His father, aided by home help Marie, encourages him to deal with issues concerning his own leaving some years earlier.

Thursday 16 - Pomeroy Players present HEN NIGHT EPIPHANY by Jimmy Murphy. It is described as ‘ a subtle Irish comedy with thoughtful poignant drama’. Five women come together to clear out a rundown cottage a week before the wedding of its new owner, Una. Joining her on her hen night are her best friends Kelly and Triona, her soon to be mother-in-law, Olive and Olive’s best friend Anta.

Friday 17 - Prosperous Drama Society presents OLEANNA by David Mamet. This is a two-character play about the power struggle between a University Professor and one of his female students, who accuses him of sexual harassment and by doing so, spoils his chances of being accorded tenure.

(OVER 16 - themes of sexual harassment, some violence and swearing).

Saturday 18 - Ballyshannon Drama Society present  the Pulitzer Prize winning drama A DELICATE BALANCE by Edward Albee. The uneasy existence of upper-middle class suburbanites Agnes and Tobias and their permanent houseguest, Agnes’s witty and alcoholic sister Claire, is disrupted by the sudden appearance of lifelong family friends Harry and Edna, fellow empty nesters with free-floating anxiety, who ask to stay with them to escape some unknown terror. They are soon followed by Agnes and Tobias’s 36 year old daughter Julia, who returns home following the collapse of her fourth marriage.

Sunday 19 - appearing for the first time in Ballyshannon is Theatre 3 Newtownabbey with Arthur Miller’s THE PRICE. Two estranged brothers, one a policeman who sacrificed his education to care for his invalid father, the other an eminent surgeon who walked out on his family to concentrate on personal success, meet to settle their father’s estate and arrange its sale. Miller’s compelling story of property, ambition and the burden of family duty remains as relevant today as  when it was first produced in 1968.

ADJUDICATOR

The adjudicator for this year’s festival is Alan Haslett. He has been involved with theatre for fifty years and has a wealth of experience as an actor, singer, director, and adjudicator. 

Caption: Adjudicator Alan Haslett

He is a member of The Association of Drama Adjudicators, Ireland and the Guild of Drama Adjudicators, UK, and has adjudicated thirty festivals in England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man, as well as the length and breadth of Ireland.

Alan has acted and directed with Londonderry Amateur Operatic Society, Strabane Musical Society, St. Patrick’s Hall Theatre Group, Strabane, Portrush Music Society, Letterkenny Musical Society, Lurgan Operatic Society, Fortwilliam Music Society, The Ulster Operatic Company, and Lisnagarvey Operatic Society in musicals from 1975-2002 playing leading roles or directing in shows from Camille in ‘Merry Widow’ (1975) to Fagin in ‘Oliver’ (2002). He has picked up many awards in his musical theatre career.

His drama career includes work with City of Derry Drama Club, Two Bridges Theatre Group and Lifford Players, gathering many awards along the way. As artistic director of Two Bridges Theatre Group, which he formed in 1997, he has directed many productions, including six festival plays, two of which reached the All Ireland Confined Finals as well as the AUDF One Act Final.

As well as his many adjudications, he is a freelance theatre director and workshop leader for both drama and musicals with adults and young people of all ages.