Amateur Drama Circuit 2010

poteen

Its that time of year again guys. There are lots of amateur groups in rehearsals at the minute in both the Open and confined section. Im in rehearsals myself for a production in the Confined section. The drama council have recently posted some of the festival lineups http://www.adci.ie/

How many of ye are in productions. Any ideas about which groups are strong this year etc etc etc.

brianw25

hey,

I was wondering does anyone no any cork based drama/acting groups in around the city...anywhere that you wouldnt need transport basically!

any info would be well appreciated

thanks

poteen

Im not really sure of what Cork city groups there are because I dont know of any of them on the festival circuit though Im sure theree are groups in existence.
Cork county though has some very strong groups. Kilmeen and Shoestring from Charleville spring to mind straight away.

jorg

We're rehearsing a new American play called "Mauritius" and certainly in the open section, there are plenty of strong plays and strong groups. No doubt, Myra Maguire and Estuary will be going for 3 in a row in Athlone!

poteen

jorg wrote: »

We're rehearsing a new American play called "Mauritius" and certainly in the open section, there are plenty of strong plays and strong groups. No doubt, Myra Maguire and Estuary will be going for 3 in a row in Athlone!

Good to hear ye are back in rehearsals again. Congrats on your 1 act success in Longford. The competition was vey strong. Whats "Mauritius" about ? Big cast? From looking at The ADCI site, the open section looks very competitive again this year.
Only a few weeks to go until the circuit begins!

jorg

poteen wrote: »

Good to hear ye are back in rehearsals again. Congrats on your 1 act success in Longford. The competition was vey strong. Whats "Mauritius" about ? Big cast? From looking at The ADCI site, the open section looks very competitive again this year.
Only a few weeks to go until the circuit begins!

Thanks, we had a great time in Longford.
Mauritius is a suspense / thriller about of all things - stamp collecting. Not the sort of topic associated with the thriller genre! It has 3M & 2F.
We'll be performing in 8 festivals; Derry, Enniskillen, Kildare,Carnew, Ballyshannon, Cavan, Rathangan and scariff.
What are you guys doing?

poteen

sounds good. Nice size cast also. We are doing a Jim Nolan play . Very Busy in Rehearsals at the minute. Are ye far off dress rehearsal with your play? Confident of making Athlone?

jorg

poteen wrote: »

sounds good. Nice size cast also. We are doing a Jim Nolan play . Very Busy in Rehearsals at the minute. Are ye far off dress rehearsal with your play? Confident of making Athlone?

We're a bit away from dress rehearsal. We're performing locally in Leixlip the first week in March. As for Athlone? we live in hope!!
Are you guys performing at any of the festivals we're at?

brianw25

Hey,

Does anyone know of any drama groups/clubs etc in the cork area, as im really looking to join up with one. I am an adult in my tweenties.


Thanks

poteen

So Who's ready for the Circuit?? Opening night of the first 3 act festival of the year takes place tonight in Rush . Let the fun begin!

wexican

poteen wrote: »

So Who's ready for the Circuit?? Opening night of the first 3 act festival of the year takes place tonight in Rush . Let the fun begin!

We begin our Circuit trek tomorrow night. Looking forward to it

Best of luck everyone!

poteen

wexican wrote: »

We begin our Circuit trek tomorrow night. Looking forward to it

Best of luck everyone!

Well?! How did ye get on with your festival? Who was adjudicating and where was it? Its in full flow now. First festival results are out on Friday from Newtownstewart and Rush

Dagon

Cool to see a thread about the circuit!

I've been involved in acting with various groups since 2003 or so. This year I'm with KATS in Galway and we're doing Hedda Gabler by Ibsen. We've just done our initial run at the town hall theatre in Galway and it went well, so we're really looking forward to hitting the circuit!

I'm quite looking forward to seeing Mauritius actually, Faith Healer and Extremeties were both really cool.

poteen

Dagon wrote: »

Cool to see a thread about the circuit!

I've been involved in acting with various groups since 2003 or so. This year I'm with KATS in Galway and we're doing Hedda Gabler by Ibsen. We've just done our initial run at the town hall theatre in Galway and it went well, so we're really looking forward to hitting the circuit!

I'm quite looking forward to seeing Mauritius actually, Faith Healer and Extremeties were both really cool.

I really like any of KATS work i have seen. All my sons was good but I loved The Glass Menagerie. Thats a tough challenge ye have taken on this year. Best of Luck with it. Bradan are a great group for sure. They should do well after winning the 1Act i December. Any word on what productions are going well this year on the circuit so far (early stages I Know). How are your neighbours 'Compantas Lir Claregalway' getting on?

jorg

We had our first local performance last night. Off to Enniskillen and Derry for Sat and Sun

poteen

jorg wrote: »

We had our first local performance last night. Off to Enniskillen and Derry for Sat and Sun

Best of luck with the first of your festivals. They will all be coming thick and fast now. How do you think your show rates against your previous efforts ?

jorg

Our play is definitely different to our winning one act and to "Faith Healer" last year. We always strive not to be predictible! We'll know better with a few festivals under our belt. Check our our website for updates www.bradan.org

Dagon

poteen wrote: »

I really like any of KATS work i have seen. All my sons was good but I loved The Glass Menagerie.

Ah thanks man! I played the gentleman caller in Glass Menagerie and it was a lot of fun. We had a very good director and worked a lot on the show, so it was nice getting to the finals. The competition that year was very stiff! I think Estuary with "The Price" won it that year?

Thats a tough challenge ye have taken on this year. Best of Luck with it. Bradan are a great group for sure. They should do well after winning the 1Act i December. Any word on what productions are going well this year on the circuit so far (early stages I Know). How are your neighbours 'Compantas Lir Claregalway' getting on?

Compantas lir are doing "I do not like thee Dr.Fell" by Bernard Farrell. One of the guys from that group works in the same company as me and he says they are doing fine. They really are going from strength to strength every year, and it's great to see it.

Dagon

jorg wrote: »

Our play is definitely different to our winning one act and to "Faith Healer" last year. We always strive not to be predictible! We'll know better with a few festivals under our belt. Check our our website for updates www.bradan.org

That's for sure, the group is very unpredictable and that keeps things really fresh. As much as I admired "The price", I have to say that I thought "Frozen" was one of the best shows I've seen in Athlone in the last few years, and it stood head and shoulers above much of the competition. Really seemed underrated at the time IMO.

poteen

A good few results coming in tonight from the first of the festivals. Update this page with any info ye hear from them. Great to see who is making the early moves in the open an confined sections

wexican

First results were posted on adci.ie this morning.#

Leading the Confined on joint first are Ferns Dramatic Society and Kilrush Drama Group.
Leading the Open on joint first are Estuary Players and Silken Thomas.

Well done all so far.

http://adci.ie/2010confinedleague.htm
http://adci.ie/2010openleague.htm

poteen

Silken Thomas and Estuary looking sharp again it seems in the open section. The confined seems to be putting Ferns to the fore. Two wexford groups doing translations. Interesting to see will Wexford DG be able to match Ferns. How have people found the adjudications so far? Any tougher than previous years?

Dagon

I've been to see a few shows at the Western drama festival, and I have to say Tom McArdle was a really entertaining and very astute adjudicator. Because of the high standard at this festival, he was being very tough on the players. He wasn't letting anything slide, and I thought he was a little too harsh on Nenagh tbh, as they had a truly breathtaking show IMHO.

In the open I saw "Agnes of God" by Nenagh, and "Pied a Terre" by Brideview; both were excellent.

Safe to say we won't be getting to Athlone this year with Hedda Gabler But it was a very fun and enjoyable year nonetheless, and an interesting piece to study. The adjuduications were pretty tough, but that is to be expected having seen the competition. It's really great to see so many groups raising the bar and putting so much work into their rehearsal process and performance.

jorg

We've a win and 2 thirds so we're keeping our fingers crossed. Haven't had a chance to see any of the others but the Silkies seem to be hot this year.

We'll be against you guys in Ballyshannon which is shaping up to be a tough one with 4 of the 6 open groups with at least one win behind them!

http://www.bradan.org/news.html

wexican

Come on the Ferns!

poteen

wexican wrote: »

Come on the Ferns!

Ferns are doing very well it must be said! Well Done! Are ye all set for the All Ireland? A few more groups are also qualified . A few spaces still up for grabs? What other Confined shows have you seen that are good or who else is supposed to be in the mix? have ye many festivals left?

poteen

Dagon wrote: »

I've been to see a few shows at the Western drama festival, and I have to say Tom McArdle was a really entertaining and very astute adjudicator. Because of the high standard at this festival, he was being very tough on the players. He wasn't letting anything slide, and I thought he was a little too harsh on Nenagh tbh, as they had a truly breathtaking show IMHO.

In the open I saw "Agnes of God" by Nenagh, and "Pied a Terre" by Brideview; both were excellent. Marina Carr's play "The Mai" was done by Phoenix players in the confined and it was also very good.

.

A few people told me that The Phoenix players were crap at the Mai and dont know how they won a festival with it ?

Dagon

poteen wrote: »

A few people told me that The Phoenix players were crap at the Mai and dont know how they won a festival with it ?

I wouldn't go so far as to say crap, but there are some things in that show that need a lot more work, and the group are aware of that. It was certainly a surprise win to be sure, especially given the high standard in the confined at this festival...

wexican

poteen wrote: »

Ferns are doing very well it must be said! Well Done! Are ye all set for the All Ireland? A few more groups are also qualified . A few spaces still up for grabs? What other Confined shows have you seen that are good or who else is supposed to be in the mix? have ye many festivals left?

Thanks! We're not set just yet, but we'll get there.

I've only seen Kilrush so far - very very good. I've heard good things about Compántas Lir and Kilmuckridge too.

poteen

wexican wrote: »

Thanks! We're not set just yet, but we'll get there.

I've only seen Kilrush so far - very very good. I've heard good things about Compántas Lir and Kilmuckridge too.

Its a great show (translations) . A big challenge for any group , not to mention a confined group. The spots for the all Ireland are been quickly snapped up at this stage and the patern is forming. I have heard good reports on Kilrush but mixed reports on the other two you mentioned
Im hearing great reports on Cornmill & Shoestring in the open section.

Dagon

I'm also hearing great reports about Cornmill - the adjudicator in Ballyshannon told me they were doing an amazing job with "Shining City". But that's no surprise, I've been majorly impressed with Cornmill over the past few years, and they've been very consistent. Seamus O'Rourke is a mighty man

Did any of you see Dig a few years back? Here is a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J7sHYWg1zo