Draw for Finals announced

The running order for the 2009 All Ireland One Act Finals has been announced.

Friday December 4th from 8.00 p.m

Bray Arts - The Librarian

Blue Hat Productions - Commencing

Silken Thomas Players - A Dog Called Redemption

Saturday December 5th from 2.00 p.m

Cornmill Theatre Group - Wagging Finger

Shannonside Drama Group - Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye

Dark Horse Drama Group - Virtual Reality

Saturday December 5th from 8.00 p.m

Prosperous Dramatic Society - The Zoo Story

Rath Players - A Galway Girl

36 Players - 27 Wagons full Of cotton

Sunday December 6th from 2.00 p.m

Bradán Players - The Quality Of Boiled Water

Breffni Players - Faded Footsteps

Sunday December 6th from 7.30 p.m

Dalkey Players - Specter

Backstage Theatre Group - Small Box Psychosis

Pictured are representives from competing groups

All Ireland Draw this Saturday.

Backstage Theatre Group are preparing themselves for the All Ireland One Act Finals.
The draw for the running order of the finals will be held in Backstage Theatre Longford this Saturday november 28th at 1.oo p.m

Under the direction of Ollie Kenny the Finals will run fron December 4th to 5th with the opening on Friday 4th at 7.30 p.m.

The Finals will be officially opened by Gerry Stembridge who will also be giving a DLI hosted masterclass on Saturday 5th from 11 a.m to 1.00p.m in Slashers complex.


Pictured are members of One Act Finals organising committee alongside Gerry Stembridge.

All Ireland Finalists announced.

Following the closing of the qualifing festivals the list of groups competing in the 2009 One Act finals can now be announced.
The groups competing in the open section are:

Bray Arts with The Librarian
Silken Thomas Players with A Dog Called Redemption
36 Players with 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton
Cornmill Theatre Group with Wagging finger
Dalkey Players with Specter
Prosperous Dramatic Society with The Zoo Story
Dark Horse Drama Group with Virtual Reality
Bradán Players with The Quality Of Boiled Water

The confined section will be contested by:

Backstage Theatre Group with Small Box Pyschosis
Shannonside Drama Group with Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye
Breffni Players with Faded Footsteps
Blue Hat Productions with Commencing
Rath Players with A Galway Girl

The draw for the running order of the finals will take place in Backstage Theatre Longford on Saturday November 28th at 1.00pm.

The Finals will be held on December 4th 5th & 6th.

West Cork gives Silken Thomas third victory.

Silken Thomas Players have secured a place in the All Ireland Finals with victory in West Cork One Act Festival. This is the third time for the Kildare group to top the table. Insight Theatre Group were awarded second place for Semper Fidelis while The Moat Club's offering Bar And Ger took third place.

In the confined section Schull Drama Group took top spot with Blue Hat's Commencing and Swan Music and theatre Group's Extraordinary Revelations Of Orca the Goldfish took second and third place respectively.

Dark Horse victory in Prosperous

Dark Horse Drama Group secured themselves first place in Prosrerous Drama Festival over the weekend giving them their second victory in the open section. Insight Theatre Group took second place with Semper Fidelis while third place went to Taney Dramatic Society for Voices In The Park.

Rath Players took top spot in the confined section with A Galway Girl with Corran Players taking second place for their production of The Corner Shop.

Tubbercurry wins for Cornmill and Breffni.

Cornmill Theatre Group took first place in the open section this weekend in Tubbercurry Drama Festival giving them their second win and a place in the All Ireland Finals. Second place was awarded to KODE for their production of Whwn A Man Knows.

Leitrim also took top spot in the confined section with Faded Footsteps by Breffni Players finishing first. D.A.D.S took second place with On The Outside and Phoenix Players' Breakfast With Willy brought home third place.

Pictured are Charles McGuinness and Tommy Sharkey from Cornmill's Wagging Finger.

Silken Thomas win in Gorey.

Silken Thomas Players took first place in the open section in Gorey last night with A Dog Called Redemption. This is the second victory for the Kildare group. Prosperous Drama Society's Zoo Story was awarded second place while Spring presented by Camross took third place.

In the confined section Blue Hat Productions' Commencing took first place with Eden Drama Group's A Galway Girl bring home second place and Spreading The News by Kilrush Drama Group finishing third.

Pressure builds finals draw near.

With just four qualifing heats left for deciding the fifty five groups competing on this year's One Act circuit have fingers and toes firmly crossed.
With the curtain falling on Gorey, Prosperous, Tubbercurry and West Cork Drama Festivals this weekend the places in December's finals will be decided.

Following this the draw for the finals will be held in Backstage Theatre Longford on Saturday November 28th.

Wins in Doonbeg for Insight and Shannonside.

Doonbeg One Act Drama festival provided Insight Theatre Group with their first win in the open section last weekend for their production of SemperFidelis. Second place went to Camross Drama Group for Spring with A New Woman by kilmant Players taking third place.

In the confined section Shannonside Drama Group took their third win with Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye. A Small box Of Oblivion by Wayside Players and Amphitheatre's Jack Furey took second and third places respectively.

Bray and Shannonside secure places in All Ireland Finals

Bray Arts have secured themselves a place in the All Ireland Finals in Longford with their win in Haulbowline giving bringing them up to 36 points in the Open league table.

Haulbowline Theatre Company were awarded second place while third place went to The Nightingale And Not The Lark by Martello Productions.

The Confined Honors went to Shannonside Drama Group's Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye. This win has also secured their place in the All Ireland Finals.

Coachford Players production of Leaders took second place while The Way Of All Fish by Take 5 Drama brought home third place.

Backstage claim fourth win in Manorhamilton

Leitrim has been very lovely for Backstage Theatre Group this weekend. After winning the confined section in Carrigallen Sunday evening they also won the confined section in Manorhamilton Sunday night. They were also given the adjudicator's award for best technical and best actor for Doug Fox Roberts (pictured right).

Prosperous Dramatic society took top spot in the Open section with Zoo Story.

The full placings are :
Open 1st Prosperous (Zoo Story)
2nd Cornmill (Wagging finger)
3rd Holywood Players (London Vertigo)

Confined 1st Backstage (Small Box Psychosis)
2nd Breffni (Faded Footsteps)
3rd Phoenix Players (Breakfast With Willy)

Dark Horse and Rath top skerries

Dark Horse Drama Group claimed top spot in Skerries Drama Festival this weekend with Alan Arkin's Virtual Reality while Bradán Players took second place with The Quality Of Boiled water and Kilmant Players finished third with A New Woman.

The confined section was won by Rath Players with their production of A Galway Girl. Crossbridge players claimed second place and Corran Players took third place.

Maudebawn wins for 36 Players and Clondalkin

This weekend Maudebawn Drama Festival saw 36 Players win the open section with 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. Second place went to Cornmill Theatre Group with Seamus o Rourke's Wagging Finger.

First place in the confined section was claimed by Clondalkin Players with Last Panto In Little Grimley while Eden Drama Group took second place with a Galway Girl.

Second win for Bray.

The Cork One Act Drama Festival has provided Bray Arts with their second win in the open section. They were awarded the top spot for their production of The Librarian.

Martello Productions took second place with The Nightingale And Not The Lark while Brideview Drama's The Loaded Dog finished Third.

In the confined section Blue Hat Productions won first place with Commencing with Take 5'sThe Way Of All Fish and Coachford's Leaders taking home second and third places respectively.

Dalkey success in Bangor

Dalkey Players took first place in Bangor Drama Festival this weekend with their production of Specter by Don Nigro.

Lurig Drama Group were awarded second place with Melody while Bangor Drama Club took third place with 10,000 Years In 30 Minutes....give Or Take.

Third win for Backstage

Backstage Theatre Group picked up their third win of the confined circuit with Small Box Psychosis coming out top in Carrigallen. They also picked up the Aiden Harte Memorial award for most entertaining play. Benny O Brien was presented with Best Actor in the confined section for his role of Charlie.

The award for best actress confined went to Sharon Gildea from Phoenix players for Breakfast With Willy.

Lough Gill Players production of The Dumb Waiter was awarded second place with third going to Breffni Players Faded Footsteps.

pictured are director of Small Box Psychosis Gus Hanley and

winner of best actor Benny o Brien.

Cornmill win open in Carrigallen

Cornmill Theatre Group won first place in the open section in Carrigallen drama festival with Wagging Finger by seamus O Rourke.

Second place was awarded to Silken Thomas Players with A Dog Called Redemption with third place going to 36 players production of 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton.

The acting awards went to Conor 0 Connell of Silken Thomas Players and Emma Bolger of 36 Players.

Pictured is cast and crew from Cornmill's Wagging Finger including writer/director Seamus O Rourke.

Prosperous dominate in Dunmore

The curtain came down on the first Dunmore One Act Drama Festival on Sunday night, with Prosperous Drama Group from Kildare announced as the winners of the Festival's Best Play for their outstanding production 'The Zoo Story' by Edward Albee.

The Kildare Group dominated the Open section with Lurlene Duggan picking up the Award for Best Director and Robert Massey securing the Best Actor Award. Donna Ruane from KODE theatre group in Castlebar was selected as Best Actress in the Open section and the Mayo group also won the Awards for Best Sound and Lighting.

There was great local celebration as Dunmore Amateur Drama Society won Best Play in the Confined section for a wonderful production of 'On the Outside' by Tom Murphy. Kevin O'Dwyer was selected as the Best Director to give Dunmore their second trophy of the night, while Edward Dillon from Shannonside and Dympna Shalloo from Amphitheatre took home the main
Acting Awards in the Confined section.

Festival Adjudicator Fred Williams said the standard among the ten participating groups was extremely high and praised the efforts of Festival Director George Bruen and his committee for running a very successful weekend of drama.

Winners -

Best Play Open - Prosperous Players with "The Zoo Story".
Best Director Open - Lurlene Duggan
Best Play Confined - DADS Dunmore
Best Director Confined - Kevin O'Dwyer
Best Actor Open - Robert Massey (Prosperous)
Best Actress Open - Donna Ruane (KODE Castlebar)
Best Actor Confined - Edward Dillon (Shannonside Players)
Best Actress Confined - Dympna Shalloo (Amphitheatre,Kilkee)
Best Lighting - KODE
Best Sound - KODE
Adjudicator's Awards:
Padraig Rogers (Corran Players, Ballymote)
Bridie Colleran (CorranPlayers, Ballymote)

Eadaoin McCarrick (Cloonacool)

Picture - Festival Director George Bruen, Lurlene Duggan from Prosperous Drama Group accepting the Margret Walsh Trophy for Best Play with "The Zoo Story", Martin Walsh and Adjudicator Fred Williams.

Properous success in Dunmore

Prosperous Dramatic Society, with their play 'The Zoo Story', came first in the Open section in Dunmore's One Act Festival at the weekend.

Second in Dunmore's Open section was KODE Theatre Company from Castlebar, with their play 'When a Man Knows'.

In the Confined section, the local DADS from Dunmore were first with Tom Murphy's 'On the Outside'. Second were Shannonside Drama Group with 'Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye', while third were Backstage Theatre Group with 'Small Box Psychosis'.

36 Players and Backstage first again

36 Players and Backstage Theatre were the main winners in Ballymahon’s One Act Festival this weekend, which took place in Bog Lane Theatre.

36 Players, with their play ‘27 Wagons Full of Cotton’ were first in the Open section, with second place going to Dalkey Players with their play ‘Spectre’ and third was Cornmill Theatre, with the Seamus O’Rourke play, Wagging Finger

In the Confined section, Backstage Theatre were first with Small Box Psychosis, second were Breffni Players with Faded Footsteps and third were Coachford Players with Leaders.

Silken Thomas first in Palmerstown

The local Parish Centre was the venue for this year’s Palmerstown One Act Festival were the Silken Thomas Players were first in the Open section with ‘A Dog Called Redemption’.

Second in the festival were Bray Arts with ‘The Librarian’ while third was Martello Productions with ‘The Nightingale and not the Lark’.

In the Confined section Dark Horse Drama Group were first with ‘Parentcraft’, while second were Clondalkin Drama Group with ‘Last Panto in Little Grimley’.

Bradán Players first in Balbriggan

Bradán Players, Leixlip were again first in the One Act Circuit this weekend with their play 'The Quality of Boiled Water' (written by Jason Milligan).

Having come first in Dundrum, the Leixlip-based group were given first place in the Open Section in Balbriggan One Act Festival, which took place in the Bracken Court Hotel.

Second in the Open section were Dalkey Players with ‘Specter’.

In the Confined section, Lough Gill Players were first with ‘The Dumb Waiter’ (following their second in Cavan) and the Trinity Players were second with ‘The Merry Women of Windham’.

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]

Breffni and 36 Players winners in Dundrum

The fourth Dundrum One Act Festival at the Mill Theatre proved to be another successful event, with Dublin group 36 Players and Leitrim group Breffni Players announced the respective winners on Saturday night.

In the Open section, 36 Players were winners with '27 Wagons Full of Cotton', while 2nd were Prosperous Dramatic Society with 'Zoo Story. Third in the Open were Leixlip group, Bradan Players, with 'The Quality of Boiled Water'.
In the Confined section, Breffni Players won with 'Faded Footsteps'; second were Crossbridge Players with Cliff's Edge and third were Leeson Players with 'Miss Brill'.

Busy weekend for Cavan Town Hall

On a busy final night for Cavan, which saw four plays staged in the Town Hall, the winners came from Dublin and Cork.

In the Open section, first were Dalkey Players with their play 'Spector' and second were Dark Horse Drama Group from Kilcock with 'Virtual Reality' (no third as only three plays entered the Open).

In the Confined section, Take Five Drama Group from Cork, with 'The Way of All Fish' were first, and Lough Gill Drama Group with 'The Dumb Waiter' were second and Amphitheatre with 'Butterfly' were third. Adjudicator on the night was Larry McCluskey.