Balally Players

Stage adaptation of Dickens classic

'Great Expectations' – dlr Mill Theatre – 20-23 February 2019

February 20-23 at dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum, sees one of Charles Dickens’ best-loved tales brought thrillingly to life, and given a fresh spin. Directed by Brian Molloy and presented by Balally Players, 'Great Expectations' follows the tumultuous yet uplifting adventures of the orphan, Pip.

When the orphan Pip meets the convict Magwitch in a graveyard and is forced to help him escape, his life takes a series of unexpected turns. Invited to the house of the mysterious Miss Havisham, he falls in love with her adopted daughter, the beautiful but cold-hearted Estella. Then the generosity of an unknown benefactor sends him to London to become a gentleman. But the truth behind his change of fortune, once revealed, is not what Pip expects…

This production for Balally Players, a stage adaptation written by Jo Clifford, is directed by Brian Molloy and will be on stage in the dlr Mill Theatre from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 February 2019. The show starts at 8pm each evening and there is a Saturday Matinee at 3pm. Tickets (€16/€14) are available from the Box Office on 01-296 9340 or through the theatre website.

For more, see the What's On page.

 

Shakespeare Workshops

Preparations for Summer Shakespeare 2019

The Summer Shakespeare this year is 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', directed by Karen Carleton and presented around mid-summer in the gardens of St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham.

Shakespeare’s comic fantasy of four lovers who find themselves bewitched by fairies is one of the Bard's most loved plays. In it he turns his attention to love, jealousy and marriage with great comic effect.

In preparation, a series of workshops and readings have been organised between 26 February and 27 March. See the Members Area for full details.

 

'The Flattering Word'

One-Act Comedy returned to the stage in January 2019

The Flattering Word, written by George Kelly and directed for Balally Players by Aisling Uí Laoire, is a one-act comedy, written in the 1920s, that tells the story of a celebrated actor, Eugene Tesh, who pays an unexpected visit to an old friend. During the course of his visit, he uses his charm to eradicate the other character’s prejudice against theatre, convincing them that they in fact have an unrealised talent for the stage. What ensues are some very funny moments of attempting to realise one’s secret desire to make the big time!

The Flattering Word was in the Glenealy One Act Festival on Sunday 20 January 2019 and in Co Wicklow for the Bray One Act Festival on Wednesday 23 January 2019.

 

More to come in 2019

Balally Players shows for Spring and Summer

'Paris to Picton', written and directed by Pat McCarry will be presented from 24 to 27 April 2019 in the dlr Mill Theatre Studio, Dundrum, Dublin.

This year's 'Summer Shakespeare' will be 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' directed by Karen Carleton and presented towards the end of June, outdoors, in St. Enda’s Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin.

More details will be posted here closer to the performance dates.

 

 

Christmas at Marlay

Marlay Park 12 to 15 December 2018

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 calendar.

The show was performed from Wednesday 12 to Saturday 15 December 2018 at 8pm each evening in Marlay Park House.

For more, including some photographs of the performers, see the What's On page.

 

 

'The Giant Killers'

All Ireland One Act Finalist in 2018

Congratulations to the cast and creative team behind ‘The Giant Killers’ on reaching the All Ireland One Act Drama Finals 2018 in Kilmuckridge and winning an adjudicator’s award for design (set and costume).

'The Giant Killers' was Balally Players' entry in this year's National One Act Festival and was performed in the dlr Mill Theatre again on Friday 2 November 2018 as part of the Dundrum One Act Festival.

From its first show as part of our 'Autumn One Act Double Bill' in the dlr Mill Theatre Studio in October 2018, 'The Giant Killers' went on to win awards at festivals around the country and a place at the All Ireland One Act Drama Finals in Kilmuckridge.

The Giant Killers by Eve and Andrew Pearson-Wright, directed by Gary Wall, is the inspiring true story of football’s greatest ever underdogs. Set in the early years of Association Football, The Giant Killers follows a ragtag bunch of Lancashire mill workers who defied all odds to become the first working-class team in the country to play in the FA Cup. Left tired and despondent from the cotton famine of the 1870s, this small group of northern lads found pride and hope in a game that up until then had been reserved for the upper classes. Darwen FC rose up against prevailing social prejudice and the might of the Football Association, to earn a place in history as the first real ‘giant-killers’ in English football, and take on the “poshest team of all” – The Old Etonians. Scoring a massive moral victory for all working class people, the team proved that passion and spirit is worth more than wealth and privilege. When the Battlefield is the football pitch, everyone is equal. The Giant Killers is an absorbing, heartfelt story of a town that came together to achieve the impossible and win the respect of the nation. A rip-roaring evening out, whether you know the off-side rule or not!

For more, see the page for the play in the Productions section.

 

Dundrum One-Act Festival

dlr Mill Theatre Friday 2 to Sunday 4 November 2018

The Dundrum One Act Drama Festival returned to the dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum, Dublin from Friday to Sunday, 2 to 4 November 2018. The Festival Director was Fiona Walsh.

Drama groups from across the country competed over the three nights of the festival and presented a total of nine plays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

See the Dundrum Festival page in the What's On section for a list of the groups that competed this year and the plays they performed.

 

 

Summer Shakespeare 2018

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 Past Productions page.

 

 

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