Munster Express                                    [top]               November 2003

REVIEW: WDS ONE-ACT FESTIVAL


This was an excellent festival of nine short plays over three nights and Waterford Dramatic Society organised a fine mix of plays to delight a mostly visiting audience. I can honestly say that I had a better theatrical experience at this festival than I did recently at a weekend of the Dublin Theatre Festival. People underestimate the ability and adventurousness of the amateur drama movement and in the three weeks of Dublin Festival and Fringe you did not get such a mix of plays by Friel Langston Hughes, John Arden, Neil LaBute as well as fine new work.......................

...........................The acclaimed Balally Players rounded off the night with a large cast production of La Corbiere directed with such style by Geoffrey O'Keeffe. This was a difficult tone-poem of a play with lots of movement to create verbal, visual and visceral images. It did not explain itself to the audience but carried the audience along like shipwrecked victims.

The balance of the local work of repetitive words and part words wasn't as sharp as the visual content. A simulated rape where the man and woman faced the audience had such a visceral impact and it was a triumph of talented direction.

Results
Dungarvan won the Confined section and to my surprise the Haulbowline Group won the Open Section with Daft Project, Cobh in second place. That Balally were only third surprised me but that's the joy and heartache of festivals.

Laois Nationalist                                    [top]                       November 2002

The magic of live theatre                              

IT was a weekend of great entertainment giving those who attended an opportunity to see at first hand the magic of live theatre. Laois Drama Association once again proved that they have that winning formula when it comes to hosting the one act drama festival. The festival took place in The Dunamaise Theatre on Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10.

Nine groups from Laois, Offaly, Wicklow and Dublin took part in this year’s festival and thrilled the audiences with excellent performances throughout the weekend. Five drama groups contested the open section of the competition, while four groups contested the confined section. This year saw The Open Door Drama Group from Abbeyleix take part in the festival for the first time.

Adjudicator Joe Donoghue gave positive and constructive criticism on the different plays performed throughout the festival. At the awards ceremony Mr. John Carroll representing the sponsors Glanbia, said he was delighted to support the Laois Drama Festival and congratulated all the participating groups and thanked them for a marvelous weekend of drama.

The following is the result of this year’s festival. Adjudicator’s award went to, Craft Drama Group from Dublin for their production of Last Tango in Little Grimley.

Best Play (open Section) St. Patrick’s Dramatic Society, Dalkey with their production of The Pushcart Peddlers, by Murray Schisgal.

Best actor (open section) Camille Donegan from Balally Players Dublin for her portrayal of Lass, in After Midnight before Dawn.

Irish Times                                                 [top]                November 1999

Cúchulainn,
pull up your socks

Nearly 4,000 people have competed in the national one-act amateur drama festival. Rosita Boland gets in on the action - some of it under a large plastic penis - at the Waterford heat

....................This is the second major festival in the amateur drama calendar: the other is the three-act festival, which has its finals in Athlone each May, and which was won this year by Enniscorthy Theatre Group's performance of The Cripple of Inishmann. In The Arts Plan 1995-1997, the section on amateur drama describes the movement as "one of the most widespread and enthusiastically supported activities in the arts area in Ireland. Each year about 800 groups provide activities for some 16,000 members, resulting in nearly 3,000 performances which are watched by over 400,000 people." ...........

...................The last performance of the evening is Aristophanes's Women in the Assembly, with Balally Players. The set consists of two curved benches, one classical pillar, and one seven-foot pink penis. The show involves a lot of energetic simulated copulation, and strap-on erections (made from tin-foil cylinders) under togas rather reminiscent of masts being lifted on the decks of a ship.

The long grey-haired crone, Gusistrate, is afflicted with a Greek chorus of loud farting sounds which accompanies most of her actions. Blepyrus, unable to locate his wife for marital activities, finds relief instead by squatting at the edge of the stage and grunting. Several pebbles are then released from under the nether regions of his toga and roll pertly, like rabbit-turd pellets across the stage. The audience hoots like a barnful of owls throughout.

WHEN the show is over, Pat Burke walks out on stage with his briefcase, rather like Charlie McCreevy on Budget Day. He is overshadowed by the large penis at his shoulder. "I hope my adjudication is, ahem, up to it," he jokes. Once again, the audience falls about.

Points are allocated in three categories: presentation, direction, and performance. Burke gives his adjudication group by group. Details count. "I wondered about the socks on Cuchulainn," he says, speaking of Coachford's Hawk's Well show.

He has something positive to say about each show and each acting performance: the harder hitting and more in-depth analysis takes place privately with each group later. Burke describes Women in the Assembly as "a brave show to undertake - even in 1999". One of the actresses is described as "a sexy woman to watch - and nothing wrong with that!" By the end of the evening, when the results are added up, both Coachford and Balally are through to the Kilkenny finals.

Afterwards, when the audience has departed, the Phoenix and Balally Players sit around and relax over a few beers and the remainder of the sandwiches. The Coachford group are already on the road back to Cork. Balally are pleased with the reaction their show got tonight. "It didn't go down at all well in Manorhamilton," they muse.

Dave Walsh, Balally's treasurer, thinks the amateur drama scene has increased hugely in recent years. "Look at the festival venues," he points out. "We get to play in proper theatres like this now, whereas it used to be mainly glorified sheds." There is general agreement that the one-act festival is where you'll see a more ambitious programme of plays, whereas the three-act plays tend to be the safer, traditional choices.

"You find plenty of top-quality actors in amateur drama," states Lisa Conlon. "It's the outlet for all those people who never made it professionally. Every drama group has one."

Like the other drama groups, Balally make trips to the professional theatre on a regular basis. Some years ago, they put on Arthur Miller's The Crucible, a few weeks before it went up at the Abbey. "Several people from the Abbey production came out to see us," remembers Walsh. "They gave us lots of good feedback - and they sent us tickets for their show. So they came to our show and we went to theirs!"

The other nine groups who will be going to Kilkenny are: Olivian Players, Dublin; Moat Club Naas, Daft Theatre Project, Hawlbowline; Whitethorn Players, Ballyhaunis; Granary Players, Limerick; St Patrick's D.S., Dalkey; City Limits, Dublin; Taney Players, Dundrum; and Ennis Players

Review - W.D.S. One Act Festival                 [top]      November 1998

Waterford Dramatic Society played host to a 3- Day Festival of One-Act plays as part of the All Ireland series at Garter Lane Arts Centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday 19th, 20th and 21st November. With three plays each night it was an interesting mixed bag of theatre. Drama groups from Dublin, Clare, Kildare, Limerick and Cork made up the Festival programme..........

.........On Friday night Coolmine Drama Circle, Dublin presented an excellent production "Asylum'' - a German war crimes story with an excellent performance from Ger Murray who used to live in the Cork Road. Indeed it is a small world. I also met Danny McCormack who used edit the Waterford Post, he was helping out backstage. Kilkee Group, Clare, put on a strange production of Charles Manders' 'The River'. I couldn't see the point of the play but one of the actors in a bathing scene inadvertently displayed more than he should which added humour to a dour production. Balally Players, Dublin, with 'The Hunger march' by Michael Bodenstein provided an exciting production filled with movement and action set in a post Apocalypse world. Production by Karen Carleton was of professional standard and Geoffrey O'Keeffe and Kevin Fahey gave the performances of the Festival.......................

.......................Adjudication by Anne Mekitarian was interesting at all times. I could not quibble with her awards in the Open and confined sections. Open went to Balally Players and Confined to Perryman Players, Ballyfermot. The Adjudicators Award went to Olivian Players, which I didn't agree with. I would have given it to Coolmine Drama Circle or Torch Players, Limerick but that's personal preference for you.