2023 Festival Program
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Synopsis
3 to 11 March 2023
rd
th
Friday
3rd March 2023
Saturday
4th March 2023
Sunday
5th March 2023
Pomeroy Players
Hen Night Epiphany
Rosemary Drama
Group
Toast
By Henry Foilloux-Bennett
Theatre 3
The Price
By Arthur Miller
By Jimmy Murphy
Should some secrets never be kept no matter what the cost? Five women come together to help clear out a run-down cottage a week before the wedding of its new owner, Una. Joining her on this hen night of sorts are her two best friends, Kelly and Triona, her soon to be mother-in-law, Olive, and Olive’s best friend, Anta. But Una is keeping a secret that, if revealed, will destroy all hopes of her dream wedding and living happily ever after with the love of her life. As the play unfolds, we see the women, one by one, forced to confront awkward truths of their own.
Based on the award-winning autobiography, TOAST is the story of celebrity foodie Nigel Slater’s childhood, told through the tastes and smells, pains and pleasures of growing up in the 1960s. From jam tarts to Christmas Cake to Angel Delight and Walnut Whips, Toast is funny, heart-breaking, joyous and a veritable feast for the senses!
Victor Kranz is a police sergeant approaching fifty and nearing the end of is career. His father was a wealthy businessman who died during the 20’s depression and the family furniture has been stored in an attic of a Manhattan brownstone which is due to be demolished. Victor’s wife, Esther hopes to get enough cash from the sale of the furniture to take a long overdue vacation. There is only one potential catch as Victor negotiates a price with octogenarian antiques dealer Gregory Solomon – half of the furniture is owned by Victor’s brother Walter - a wealthy surgeon who has been estranged from Victor for sixteen years. When Victor is about to close the deal with Solomon, Walter returns. He does not want or need the cash from the sale, so why has he suddenly appeared? Feeling undermined and frustrated by his brother’s appearance, Victor confronts Walter about the past and questions how their differing opinions on the fate of their father have led to their present realities.
Tuesday
7th March 2023
Wednesday
8th March 2023
Thursday
9th March 2023
Clontarf
Players
Butt Drama
Circle
Ballyshannon
Drama Society
The Importance of
Being Earnest
Darkness Echoing
By Shaun Byrne
A Delicate Balance
By Edward Albee
By Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest is a theatrical rollercoaster packed with shade, wit and plenty of gags as Oscar Wilde’s ingenious humour succeeds in debunking social pretensions.
Two bachelor friends, Algernon Moncrieff and John (Jack) Worthing lead double lives to court the attentions of the desirable Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. They then must contend with the uproarious consequences of their subterfuge, and with the redoubtable Lady Bracknell.
The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of social manners and is Oscar Wilde’s most successful play.
Darkness Echoing is a new three hander written by Butt Drama member Shaun Byrne following on from the success of last year’s award winning An Incident with Dave Cotter. This family drama, set in present day Ballybofey, mixes serious themes with dark humour much like last year’s play. It’s 2015 and Joe returns home to Donegal from London after some years away. His father, aided by home help Marie, encourage him to deal with issues concerning his own leaving some years earlier.
The uneasy existence of upper-middle-class suburbanites Agnes and Tobias and their permanent houseguest, Agnes' witty and alcoholic sister Claire, is disrupted by the sudden appearance of lifelong family friends Harry and Edna, fellow empty nesters with free-floating anxiety, who ask to stay with them to escape an unnamed terror. They soon are followed by Agnes and Tobias's bitter 36-year-old daughter Julia, who returns home following the collapse of her fourth marriage.
Friday
10th March 2023
Saturday
11th March 2023
Newtownstewart
Theatre Company
Bart Players
Midden
By Morna Regan
One Man, Two Guvnors
By Richard Bean
Ruth, a thirty-something business-woman, returns home to Northern Ireland from America where she has built a successful fashion business. But instead of the expected welcome, she finds her mother full of bitterness and anger; her grandmother on the brink of Alzheimer’s and her younger sister struggling to survive. Her arrival provokes instant strife, opening old scars and revealing incendiary secrets.
Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small-time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6000 from his fiancés dad. However, Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at the Cricketers Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be reunited with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple!