All Ireland Winners

Congratulations to all the winners from the weekend :

Winners Open section - Bradán Players with the Quality Of Boiled Water.

Winners Confined section - Backstage Theatre Group with Small Box Psychosis.

Winner Harliquin for Best Performance - Emma Bolger as Flora in 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton.

Adjudicator's award - Colin Malone as Man 2 in A Dog Called Redemption.

DLI schlorship award - Valarie Treanor from Breffni Players.

Pictured are cast and crew of The Quality Of Boiled Water

Winners in All Ireland One Act finals

Winners in the Open section - Bradan Players.

Winners in Confined section - Backstage Theatre Group.

Winner of Harlequin, best performance, Emma Bolger, 36 Players.

More info, winners & reaction tomorrow! Congrats to all.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Sunday afternoon....

Sunday afternoon saw just two plays compete, one from each section. In the open section was Bradán's presentation of The Quality Of Boiled Water by Jason Milligan. Under the direction of Tom Byrne the audience was treated to a great ensamble cast featuring sharp comic portrails by George Hogan and Jenny Ní Lúcais amongst the cast of six.

Breffni Players brought us Faded Footsteps by Maura Williamson in the confined section with heartfelt performances by Noel o Callaghan and Emer Guckian in a "Beautiful production" that tells the story of the challenges of life and love.

Second day of Finals.

Yesterday saw a total of six plays compete in the finals, three in each section.
Cornmill Theatre Group began the day with Wagging Finger in the open section. This play about two supposed strangers was written and directed by Seamus o Rourke. There were two great performances from Charles McGuinness as the seemingly innocent Ragan and Tommy Skarkey as the sinister Nathan.

The first play in the confined section came from Shannonside Drama Group with their production of Geraldine Aron's mickey Kannis Caught My Eye. This bittersweet comedy gave the audiences nice gentle mid session smile.

Rounding off the afternoon was Dark Horse drama Group's Virtual Reality by Alan Arkin. Paul Cullen and Billy Wall gave believable portrayals of two strangers who meet for a job that questions reality.

Prosperous Dramatic Society opened the evening session with Edward Albee's The Zoo Story under the direction of Lurleen Duggan. Fergal Crehan as Peter has his world interrupted by the manic Jerry played by Robert Massey who's constant energy left the audience in a daze.

The second play of the confined section was a presentation of Grealdine Aron's A Galway Girl by Rath Players. In their first All Ireland Finals Rath gave a steady if sometimes slow show.

The night was finished off by 36 Players with their presentation of Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton. Emma Bolger delivered a memorable portrayal of Flora the pawn in a business conflict between her husband an his competitor.

With four plays left for Sunday tensions are steadily building for the results.

Great opening night to finals.

Last night saw the first three performances of this year's One Act Finals in Backstage Theatre.
Following speeches from Festival Director Oliver Kenny and DLI Representative Karen Carleton Gerry Stembridge treated the audience to a series of 'approximations' of cabinet members in classic Irish theatre roles.

The daunting task of opening the festival fell to Bray Arts in the open section. They gave a strong production of James prideaux's The Librarian with Rosemary Morley Mc Philips giving a powerful representation of Rose.

The first of the groups in the confined section was Blue Hat Productions with Commencing by Jane Shepard. Both actress Caroline foley and Trish Burke gave enjoyable performances with plenty of laughes for the audience.

Silken Thomas Players in the open section finished up the night with A Dog Called Redemption by Matthew landers. This was a powerful production with captivating performances by both Conor o Collell and Colin Malone.