Balally Players

Summer Shakespeare

In the gardens of St Enda's Park – Tue 3 to Sat 7 July 2018

Our annual Balally Players' outdoor Shakespeare production was, once again, in the Walled Garden on the grounds of St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham.

This year's production was 'Much Ado About Nothing', directed by Brendan Phelan, and performances were from Tuesday 3 to Saturday 7 July 2018.

To many of the very many people who have enjoyed ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ it is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s best comedies. It has the humour and wit you might expect from the Bard; but it also has other aspects, not always associated with comedy, such as its serious contemplations on honour, shame, and the politics of courtly life in the 1500s. Thought to have been written in the latter years of the 16th century, it is a play from the middle of Shakespeare’s writing years. It’s a joyful comedy that ends with multiple marriages and no deaths.

For more, including a programme for the play and some photographs of a performance, see the What's On page.

 

Little Gem – March 2018

Award-winning play by Dublin playwright Elaine Murphy – dlr Mill Theatre Studio

The Balally Players production of this wonderfully funny play was back for three final performances in the Maureen O'Hara Studio in the dlr Mill Theatre on Thursday 22, Friday 23 and Saturday 24 March 2018.

In the three monologues, each of the women tells the story of one extraordinary year in their life. Party girl Amber has brutal indigestion the Sambuca’s won't shift, Lorraine has lost it at work and is shipped off to see the head doctor and Granny Kay is minding Gem and wondering about an itch she can’t fix...all told with love and humour. Be prepared to be beguiled and enchanted by this moving and entertaining play.

 

Of Mice And Men

Steinbeck play in dlr Mill Theatre – 6 to 10 February 2018

John Steinbeck’s short novel, published in 1937, is a classic of twentieth century literature. It has been widely acclaimed and taught in schools; but it has fallen foul of censors over the years, earning it a place in the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century.

The main characters in 'Of Mice And Men' are George Milton and Lennie Small. In the years of the Great Depression in the United States during the 1930s, these two men move around California looking for work on ranches. From the outside they are very different – one big, one smaller; one smart, one less so – but their fears and powerlessness, together with their hopes and dreams, give them common cause; and their companionship blurs their differences. Steinbeck, writing about what he called 'a base theme' in literature, commented that "if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love".

In this production at the dlr Mill Theatre, Steinbeck's own stage version of his classic novel was directed for Balally Players by Kate Canning.

For more see the What's On page.

 

All Ireland One-Act Finals 2017

'At The Hawk's Well' by W B Yeats

'At the Hawk's Well' by William Butler Yeats was first performed in 1916 and is loosely based on the stories of Cuchulain. Yeats wrote five such plays about the mythological hero of ancient Ulster. This work was the first play written in English to incorporate aspects of the Japanese Noh Theatre.

Through movement, sound and poetic language this presentation of the play transports you to a land of mythology. It is a creative re-imagining of the play while staying true to the Japanese Noh theatre which originally inspired it.

'At the Hawk's Well', directed by Aoibhinn Finnegan, was awarded first place in four of the five festivals at which it competed and qualified for the All Ireland One Act Finals in Letterkenny at the beginning of December 2017, where it won the Adjudicator's Harlequin Award for Ensemble Music Work.

The play was performed at the following festivals on the One Act Circuit:

• Fri 27 October in Skerries - 1st Place
• Sat 28 October in Coolgreaney - 1st Place
• Sat 04 November in Naas - 1st Place
• Fri 17 November in Dundrum - 1st Place
• Sat 18 November in Ballymahon - 2nd Place
• 1-3 December, All Ireland Finals, in Letterkenny - Adjudicator's Award

For more see the What's On page.

 

Balally Players Christmas Show

Marlay Park House 6 to 9 December 2017

The Balally Players show, ‘Christmas at Marlay’, is the perfect way to start Christmas. This delightful evening of seasonal sentiment – a heart-warming collection of music, song, recitation, monologue and comedy – is staged in the ideal setting, the Oval Room at Marlay Park House, Grange Road, Rathfarnham.

With tea, coffee, mulled wine and flavoursome mince pies at the Interval, it's a great evening for all the family. Since its inception, more than twelve years ago, it has become a 'must see' event on the Christmas entertainment calendar.

The show was performed on Wednesday 6 to Saturday 9 December 2017 at 8pm each evening in Marlay Park House.

 

Dundrum One Act Festival 2017

dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum – 17 to 19 November

The Dundrum One Act Drama Festival returns to the dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum, Dublin from Friday to Sunday, 17 to 19 November 2017.

Drama groups from across the country will compete over the three nights of the festival. Each night the Festival Adjudicator Donal Courtney will review the plays and on the final night he will select the winners.

See the Dundrum Festival page in the What's On section for more information including a list of the plays that will be performed.

 

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