Festival packed with three nights of great drama
Three successive nights, eight deliciously concise plays, eight talented theatre groups, two overall winners: The Cavan One Act Drama Festival promises to bring a super variety of live theatre to the Townhall stage.
The fun kicks off on Friday, November 4 with two plays, the first by Cavan’s own Moogles Theatre Group. ‘Trilogy’ by talented playwright and children’s author Catherine McKiernan charts the arrival of a world renowned artist to make a donation to the annual exhibition at the village hall. What could possibly go wrong? The cast includes Lynn McQuaid, Deborah Cullen, Moira Stockett and Catherine McKiernan.
Cork troupe Gunpowder Productions (Open) will perform ‘A Bench at the Edge’ by Luigi Iannuzzi. It is billed as an in-depth look at the trials of the mind over the body. Two people (played by Donal O’Sullivan and Daniel O’Regan) are desperate to get to the abyss, one seems to live at the edge but the other person can make a choice.
Saturday
Phoenix Players (Open) Tubbercurry, open Saturday night’s drama with the tension filled ‘Deadline Dawn’ by Anthony Booth. Set in the early 1980s a group of Middle Eastern militants wait to see if the Government will pay the ransom to rescue the Israeli girl they have kidnapped. The cast of five are Terri Brennan, Gerry Maye, Naomi Nathan, Lorraine Fitzgerald, and Pat Feeley.
Navan Theatre Group (Confined) will meanwhile perform ‘Dead Man’s Bells’ by Méabh de Brun. This black comedy deals with an age-old problem: family inheritance. When the family farm is left to their brother, unfairly to their minds, three sisters decide to take matters into their own hands. The cast include Sharon Carroll, Ciara Cassoni, and Siobhán Mallon.
Regular visitors to Cavan, Corofin Dramatic Society (Open) will perform ‘Two’ by Jim Cartright. A sharp and touching slice of English life set in a pub owned by a savagely bickering husband and wife, Two is a series of short vignettes that skilfully combines pathos and humour. It offers a credible view of a succession of ordinary people, seeking shelter from the miseries of their existence. Two’s cast of two are Lisa Clancy and James Raleigh.
Sunday
Sunday’s drama gets underway with The Moat Club (Open) from Naas performing ‘Idlewild’ by Jimmy Murphy. As the streets of Dublin play host to a bitter gangland feud, two former best friends, now rival gang leaders, meet over the grave of their best friend to finally end the bloodshed. The cast of Brian Lyons and Conor O’Connell take on the roles of two men who play God, leaving the Devil to decide who wins.
More homegrown drama is served up by Mill Race Drama Group (Confined) from Mullagh. ‘Dancing at Lunacy’ is Seamus Scanlon’s high energy dark comedy set in a republican basement bar in Belfast in 1984 during the troubles. An IRA hitman, Victor Mc Gowan, is sent to flush out an informer within an IRA unit. The play is tense, violent and funny. Eoghan Yore takes on the role of the entertaining, dangerous psychopath Victor, and is ably assisted by Conor Shaffrey, Paddy Sheanon, Diarmuid O’Reilly, and Liam McHugh.
Backstage Theatre (Open) from Co. Longford will have the honour of bringing down the curtain on the festival with Neil Simon’s ‘Visitor From Forest Hills’. This comedy revolves around married couple Roy and Norma Hubley on their daughter Mimsey’s wedding day. In a rush of nervousness, Mimsey has locked herself in the suite’s bathroom and refuses to leave. Her parents make frantic attempts to cajole her into attending her wedding while the gathered guests await the trio’s arrival downstairs. The four strong cast are Maureen Dunner, Tom Lyons, Cora Doyle, and David Flaherty.
Tickets
Curtain raises at 8pm sharp each night; Admission €15.