Three plays for the price of one this Saturday in Letterkenny

Letterkenny Music and Drama Group are delighted to present something new to the An Grianan Theatre stage this weekend.

The group are staging three short one-act plays on Saturday 12 October at 8pm, giving the audience three very different plays for the price of one. These one-act plays have three different casts, with three different directors, making for a night of great entertainment, comedy, and drama.

First up is ‘Towpath’, directed by Mary Lane, hot on the heels of her direction of the amazing ‘Rent” in August. This play features the super-talented all-female cast of Geraldine Galligan, Rachel Akkoc, Ciara Gallagher, and Angela Gallagher. Sitting by a canal bank with a fishing rod and a hip flask, a lone woman finds herself at the centre of a growing group of strangers. Each has a tale to share and a problem to solve.

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Next up is ‘No Smoke without Fire’ in the expert directing hands of Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhride, and this comedy boasts the fantastic cast of Elaine Gillespie, Aoife Flanaghan, Bill Vaughan, Fiona Mc Daid, and Ciaran O Gallchoir. Housekeeper Tilly Trimble suspects that her husband Fred is having an affair. She goes to a café, where he’s been seen recently, to keep an eye out for him. Once there, she meets her friends Rosie and Madge and confides in them. When Fred turns up, the woman he meets surprises them all. But there are even more surprises in store!

‘Cider Park’ is an original play written by our very own Kieran Kelly, and directed by Michael Leddy. Are any of us unique? Or are we all merely photocopies of what has come before? Is anything we say or do original? These are just some of the ramblings debated by friends JP and Georgie as they sup their cans in an old, abandoned playground known as ‘Cider Park’. When they are joined by the much older Ritchie, each of the three men are forced to confront their pasts, their present and their futures are they finally understand what it means to be human. 

This thought-provoking play is brought to life onstage by the brilliant Andrew Tinney, Kieran Kelly, and Cathal O Gallchoir. ‘Cider Park’ is also representing Letterkenny in various One Act Drama Festivals throughout the country over the next couple of months. “I am really excited by this clever new script and the chance to bring it to life with such a talented cast” explains director Michael Leddy.

Letterkenny Music and Drama Group won the All-Ireland Confined Drama Festival with ‘The 39 Steps’ in 2012, and reached the All-Ireland Open Finals in both 2015 and 2018. Recent plays by the group include ‘Beneath and Irish Sky’, ‘Dramateurs’, and most recently ‘The Alternative’, while recent musical productions by the group include the AIMS award winning ‘Calendar Girls: The Musical’ in 2022, the sold-out ‘All Shook Up’ in 2023, and ‘Rent’ which was staged in conjunction with Letterkenny Pride Festival in 2024. Rehearsals are in full swing for ‘Skrek: The Musical’ which will be staged in An Grianan Theatre from December 3-7, as well as the ‘LIP Sync Battle’ on Friday, November 8, in The Mount Errigal Hotel, where we have teamed up with St. Eunan’s GAA Club to put on a great night of entertainment and fundraising.

Letterkenny has a vibrant One Act Festival which occurs in An Grianan Theatre for one weekend each November, and it is attended by drama groups from all over Ireland. ‘Cider Park’ will be entered into this festival, but we are also so proud to be doing our own night of one-act plays in preparation for this; three plays, three directors, and three local casts. Hopefully this is the first of many such nights over the next few years. Tickets can be bought online or by contacting the An Grianan Theatre box office directly on (074) 9120777.