GLENAMADDY THEATRE FESTIVAL
FRIDAY 22nd MARCH TO SATURDAY 30th MARCH 2024
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Play Synopsis
Friday March 20th
Corofin Dramatic Society (Open)
"Skirmishes" by Catherine Hayes
Skirmishes by Catherine Hayes is a stark and visceral study of the relationship between a dying woman and her two embittered and resentful daughters. It is full of dark humour yet is honest about sisterhood with great respect for characters and thus, audience. A must see for anyone, male or female, who has cared for the elderly or who might have to care for a parent in the future.
Saturday March 21st
Lislea Dramatic Society (Confined)
"One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Dale Wasserman
A prisoner feigns psychosis in order to be transferred from the prison work farm to the perceived easier option of a mental institution. He, however, arrives on a psychiatric ward ruled by a tyrannical nurse. His future and those of his fellow patients come to depend on whoever wins the ensuing battle of wills between Randle P. McMurphy and Nurse Mildred Ratchet.
Sunday March 22nd
Butt Drama Circle Ballybofey (Open)
"Steel Magnolia's" by Robert Harling
All the ladies who are anybody in Chinquapin, Louisiana come to Truvy’s Beauty Salon to get their hair done. Wise-cracking Truvy and her eager new assistant Annelle – who isn’t sure whether or not she’s still married) dispense shampoo and free advice to an array of memorable characters. There’s the towns rich curmudgeon Ouiser (‘I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for 40 years’), Miss Clairee the eccentric millionaire with a raging sweet tooth and the local social leader M’Lynn whose daughter Shelby – the prettiest girl in town – is about to marry a ‘Good Ol’ Boy’.
With comedy and tragedy in equal measure, Steel Magnolias is a play filled with hilarious repartee and humorously revealing exchanges. A testament to the touching quality of amiable company in good times and in bad.
Monday March 23rd
Clann Machua Kiltimagh (Confined)
"Sive" by John.B.Keane
Set in a rural part of County Kerry, Sive tells the story of a young eighteen-year-old orphan girl, Sive, who lives with her Uncle Mike and his wife Mena. A Local Matchmaker puts together a plan to marry Sive to a local old but rich Farmer for the sum of two hundred pounds. Sive is distraught but is forced to do the will of her uncle and his bitter wife. Faced with an unthinkable future she takes the only choice left to her. Set against the harsh poverty and difficult times of 1950s Ireland, Sive caused considerable controversy when it was first performed in Listowel in February 1959. Author John B Keane chose the name “ Sive “ in honour of his sister Sheila using the Irish Gaelic form of her name . Clann Machua are delighted to present their own twist of this iconic play and Director Seamus Corry has put together a nice mix of experience and youth in his cast to present this John B Keane classic which celebrated its 60th birthday in 2019.
Tuesday March 24th
Pheonix Players Tubbercurry (Confined)
"The Communication Cord" by Brian Friel
Tim a junior linguistics Lecturer persuaded by his Barrister friend, Jack, agrees to a scheme to borrow Jacks ancestral Donegal cottage for an hour in an effort to impress Senator Donovan, father of his intended sweetheart Susan. The scheme goes horribly and hilariously awry as other unsuspected characters enter the fray including a former girlfriend, a wealthy German, a French Paramour and the local Busybody. Even the cottage itself becomes a character in this classic Brian Friel farcerience.
Wednesday March 25th
Slieve Aughty Drama Group (Confined)
"The Outgoing Tide" by Bruce Graham
In a summer cottage on Chesapeake Bay, Gunner has hatched an unorthodox plan to secure his family’s future but meets with resistance from the wife and son who have plans of their own. As winter approaches, the three must quickly find common ground and to an understanding - before the tide goes out. This drama hums with dark humour….powerful emotion.ks they are all “weirdos”.
Thursday March 26th
Glenamaddy Players (Confined)
"The Cripple of Inishmean" by Martin McDonagh
Set on a remote island off the West of Ireland in 1934.The Cripple of Inishmaan is a strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. As word arrives on Inishmaan that the Hollywood Director , Robert O’Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring Island of Inishmore to film Man of Aran, the one person who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young Cripple Billy, if only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life.
Friday March 27th
Dalkey Players (Open)
"Eurydice" by Sarah Ruhl
The Power of Memory to Triumph Over Death:
In Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl re-imagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.
Ms. Ruhl’s quirky contemporary meditation on a much-meditated-upon story has some of the subliminal potency of music, the head-scratching surprise of a modernist poem and the cockeyed allure of a surrealist painting. It’s pretty funny, too.
Saturday March 28th
Palace Players (Open)
"Chapatti" by Christian O'Reilly
Chapatti - Romance is a distant memory for two lonely animal-lovers living in Dublin. When forlorn Dan and his dog Chapatti cross paths with the amiable Betty and her nineteen cats, an unexpected spark begins a warm and gentle story about two people re-discovering the importance of human companionship.