Curtain rises on 55th Mid-Ulster Drama Festival at The Patrician

The curtain will soon rise on the 55th ‘Mid-Ulster Festival of Amateur Drama’, which will open with splendour and ferver on Friday, March 15, at The Patrician in Carrickmore.

The festival will run for nine nights, closing on Saturday, March 23, when the adjudicator’s decisions will be revealed and awards presented.

The Mid-Ulster Festival has in the past hosted drama groups from all parts of Ireland, and this year is no exception, with the programme featuring productions by groups from Galway, Kildare, Wexford and Waterford, as well as performances by two popular local groups, Pomeroy Players and Clanabogan Drama Circle.

The adjudicator this year is Anna Walker, who, having adjudicated the 2013 Mid-Ulster Festival, is making a return visit to Carrickmore. Anna has over 35 years’ experience in the Arts industry and has adjudicated throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. She also has had experience of tutoring drama students, directing plays, working as a drama facilitator and serving as secretary of the Association of Drama Adjudicators. As has been the case with past festival adjudicators, Anna is assured of a warm Carrickmore welcome, and a high level of audience engagement with her post-performance analyses.

Getting the festival under way on Friday, March 15, is Newry-based drama group, Newpoint Players, with their production of ‘In the Shadow of the Glen: Reimagined’. Based on John Millington Synge’s ‘In the Shadow of the Glen’, the play was both written and directed by Sean Treanor. Synge’s play tells the story of an unfaithful wife married to an aged man and explores the themes of ambition, greed and passion. Treanor’s version remains true to Synge’s original but also offers a further exploration of some of its characters, themes and undercurrents. Newpoint Players are no strangers to Carrickmore and their presentation of this adaptation of Synge’s classic drama on the opening night of the festival will, without doubt, be eagerly awaited by the Patrician audience.

Long-established local group, Pomeroy Players, will take to the Patrician stage on Saturday, March 16, with their production of ‘There Came a Gypsy Riding’ by the prolific Donegal playwright, Frank McGuinness.

This play tells the story of what happens when a family gathering to mark the 21st birthday party of a son who committed suicide two years previously is disrupted by the arrival of an uninvited, eccentric cousin. With strong characters, disturbing revelations and an enthralling narrative, it is one that should not be missed!

The festival continues on Sunday night, March 17, with the return of Galway based drama group, Glenamaddy Players, with ‘Proof’ by David Auburn. The group’s choice of play this year is ‘The Outgoing Tide’ by Bruce Graham, and it will delve into the sensitive issue of Alzheimer’s disease, showing its devastating impact on family relationships.

With its poignant plot, dark humour and well-drawn characters, this contemporary American drama is unlikely to disappoint.

On Monday, March 18, the Patrician audience will be treated to another visit by Prosperous Dramatic Society from Kildare, with a production of Arthur Miller’s classic play, ‘A View from the Bridge’. First performed in 1955, the play is set in an Italian-American community in 1950s Brooklyn, and tells the story of Eddie Carbone whose intense love for his niece, Catherine, drives him to betray his family’s trust. Arthur Miller explores the themes of family relationships, immigration and the consequences of suppressed desire.

Another freshly-minted script will be offered to festival patrons on Tuesday, March 19, when Ballyshannon Drama Group present ‘Margaret’ by Shaun Byrne. The play focuses on the last days of Margaret Thatcher’s life when she is staying in the Ritz Hotel and suffering from dementia. It explores her troubled relationships with the Irish, the miners, her children, the public and her male colleagues, as past demons, guilts and successes return to torment her.

On Wednesday, March 20, festival favourites, The Cornmill Theatre, return to the Patrician with their production of ‘According to Rumour’ by award-winning English playwright, Robert Scott. This hilarious farce tells the story of recent divorcee Carter Sutton waking up with no memory of what happened the previous night. He discovers an unexplained stash of cash in his fridge and has unwanted visits from a number of people, including members of his family. With a play filled with mystery, mayhem and confusion, staged by a talented and experienced drama group, a hugely-entertaining night’s theatre at the Patrician is guaranteed.

Clanabogan Drama Circle bring to the festival their production of the side-splittingly funny comedy, ‘Fortunes and Misfortunes’ by Jimmy Keary on Thursday, March 21. The play’s eponymous heroine, Daisy Fortune, is a hardworking 50-something who is supporting a lazy husband and a good-for-nothing son. Having lost her job as a waitress, she finds work in the Delaney household where marital tensions, outrageous flirtations and disappointed literary aspirations prove to be an explosive mix.

Comedy is also on offer the following night, Friday, March 22, with the staging of the Olivier Award-Winning play, ‘Out of Order’ by Ray Cooney. Presented by Ballycogley Players Drama Group from Wexford, this hysterical farce revolves around the disastrous but very funny consequences of the decision of a philandering UK government minister to spend the night in a posh London hotel with one of the opposition’s junior secretaries.

Closing the festival on Saturday, March 23, are Ballyduff Drama Group from Waterford, with their production of Jez Butterworth’s acclaimed play, ‘The Ferryman’.

With a cast of more than 20 players, this challenging play is set in 1981 and tells the story of the family of a former IRA member living in their farmhouse in rural Armagh. Presented by one of Ireland’s most talented and innovative drama groups, this compelling, powerful play should prove to be a fitting finale to the 55th Mid-Ulster Festival of Amateur Drama.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS TODAY

Season or nightly tickets can be booked by contacting the festival box office on 028 8076 1906.

The box office is open daily from Monday, March 11, to Saturday, March 23 (from 10am to 5pm daily).

Season tickets are excellent value at £60 for all nine performances, and nightly tickets are priced at £10.

Festival director, Patricia Nugent, and committee members look forward to welcoming you.

This event is kindly sponsored by Feramangh and Omagh District Council.