Amateur Drama Festival Circuit 2014

poteen

So the circuit season is almost upon us.

What groups are been tipped for success in Athlone and Claremorris?

Best of luck to all and enjoy.

Peter grimes

Will be very strange not having silken Thomas on Circuit this year! They will be missed!
Looking forward to seeing Dundalk, good group and good play!
Thurles with a great Miller play again!
Prosperous will no doubt do a wonderful job on Boeing Boeing! Can't wait to see that!
Raspers will be new to the Open, having seen their contribution to the 1 Act circuit I am very much looking forward to seeing animal farm!

Fudge dice

There's some really tough festivals that will really tell who'll be the front runners for Athlone! ie New Ross, Roscmommon and West Waterford

Fudge dice

Has anybody been able to catch any productions yet?? Any thoughts?

Fudge dice

Peter grimes wrote: »

Will be very strange not having silken Thomas on Circuit this year! They will be missed!
Looking forward to seeing Dundalk, good group and good play!
Thurles with a great Miller play again!
Prosperous will no doubt do a wonderful job on Boeing Boeing! Can't wait to see that!
Raspers will be new to the Open, having seen their contribution to the 1 Act circuit I am very much looking forward to seeing animal farm!

Have you heard any adjudications from any festivals??

GarDon

Super start for the early pace setters Bradan - 2 out of 2!
Not particularly easy festivals either, beating Prosperous and Ballyduff.

I would imagine they are pretty much qualified for the All Ireland's now.

Has anyone seen it or any of the other festival plays? A lot of new plays out this year (well, plays I'm not familiar with anyway)

Fudge dice

Ya fair play to Bradan must have a great play on their hands!
Newtownstewart and Rush were both very tough festivals with some big guns at both! Kilmuckridge seemed to be considerably easier! It seems a lot of groups tend to get to athlone by getting a win or two in very easy festivals, but im sure Bridge have a very good play on their hands. We'll really see who are the front runner in a week or two and who'll be in with a shout for Athlone and Claremorris! But for now all eyes are on Bradan

coghlan

Moyne opened Mountmellick last night good show .They are in Wexford tonight late replacement for Holycross who had to withdraw due to cast member sickness

yeppydeppy

There's still only one judge in Athlone - not to mind on the circuit - it's a bit of a joke really. It's certainly a lottery in Athlone as it's one persons opinion.

coghlan

Thurles won in Clare first time .They are class and will go all the way this year

GarDon

yeppydeppy wrote: »

There's still only one judge in Athlone - not to mind on the circuit - it's a bit of a joke really. It's certainly a lottery in Athlone as it's one persons opinion.

I wouldn't go as far as to say its a joke or a lottery but I think multiple adjudicators in Athlone should be tested out at least. I believe it was the way in the past - going back a long time now.
I don't think its necessary on the circuit because you have up to 8 festivals and "generally" you will get to Athlone if you are good enough.

yeppydeppy

I left a play at half time last year it was so poor and it made it to Athlone and I know others that should have made it and didn't. One man or woman's opinion isn't enough in a competition as subjective as this. There should be three judges in all the festivals but they could at least start making steps in the right direction by having three at Athlone.

coghlan

Thurles won again open in mountmellick last night Moyne 2nd in confined .Wexford was a clean sweep for locals

Fudge dice

It seems that Bradan, Prosperous, Ballyduff and Thurles are the one to watch this year!!

yeppydeppy

I went to see the new electric ballroom over the weekend - I hadn't a clue what was going on for the first 20 minutes or so, I didn't really like it in the end. Performances weren't that bad - just not my kind of play. I went to see a confined section performance too - I won't say what as the less said about it the better - at least they're trying.

coghlan

Where was that play on

yeppydeppy

Charleville

Fudge dice

Has anybody been able to catch the front runners in any festival ie bradan, prosperous, ballyduff or Thurles?

yeppydeppy

I haven't seen it but I spoke to who say Ballyduff and he said it was a pretty good show.

coghlan

Thurles show is very good I think they will win all ireland it's that good

Fudge dice

coghlan wrote: »

Thurles show is very good I think they will win all ireland it's that good

I don't think you can say who's going to win if you havnt seen all the groups that will be competing in Athlone, and that month in April is vital for groups! Some groups have the reputation of just about making it into Athlone and making serious improvements to their show which is sometimes on a whole different level to what was on the circuit. I saw estuary in 2008 both in Athlone and on circuit with the price amd there was no comparisson as their Athlone performance was quite exceptional and they won. Similarly ballyduff in 2012 with the crucible. Some questioned their worthiness of being in the top 9, but they seriously proved themselves in Athlone with what I thought was a stunning piece of theatre which received a standing ovation... We don't see a lot of those in Athone!!

No offence Coughlan but it is blatantly obvious that you are somewhat involved with Thurles drama group or a neighbouring group as all you seem to do is update us with Thurles's results... But I'm sure ye do have an excellent show which is proven by the results ye have received all ready!!

yeppydeppy

I went to see Thurles' show last night and there was a very strong performance from David McElgunn, the rest of the cast were good too with minor accent slip ups here an d there for some and well a couple of poor attempts at a new york accent. One of the people I was with thought the costumes should have been more colourful and the guys should have been a bit dirtier after working on the docks he also suggested being able to see a bit of new york skyline in the background or through a window.
All in all a good show, I heard people saying it was the best they'd seen all week in the North Cork drama festival but as it is now it wont will in Athlone - not without a good deal of work.

coghlan

Delighted you liked the show and I know some of the Thurles cast are on this site and will take note of your comments

Fudge dice

I was just looking at the open table and out of the top 9 groups 7 have female directors!!

brightspark

Fudge dice wrote: »

I was just looking at the open table and out of the top 9 groups 7 have gape directors!!

Gape?

Fudge dice

brightspark wrote: »

Gape?

Female!!

brightspark

Maybe being able to multitask is a good quality for a director?

yeppydeppy

I saw Einstein's gift last night by Fermoy - very good play and not a bad cast again (like Thurles) some of the smaller roles weren't great and they had terrible trouble with the lighting - I heard there was a problem with the lighting board and the adjudicator said she wasn't taking points of because of this - fair play. But the two leads were very good - I'd say the win in Chraleville is between Thurles and Fermoy but I've heard Nenagh are good too - they're on tonight.

GarDon

I was just looking at the previous winners in Athlone and it was 2005 that a group other than Silken Thomas, Estuary or Kilmeen won. It looks like that run will be ended this year with Silken Thomas not out and Estuary and Kilmeen don't look like making it. I haven't seen Estuary or Kilmeen this year but I have seen The abbeys plough and stars and Druids Walworth farce in recent years. They are very strong plays and with estuary doing a Dublin play and Kilmeen a cork play you would have expected them to have featured strongly this year. But that level of consistency must be hard to sustain and I guess a change is good for the circuit too.

Fudge dice

GarDon wrote: »

I was just looking at the previous winners in Athlone and it was 2005 that a group other than Silken Thomas, Estuary or Kilmeen won. It looks like that run will be ended this year with Silken Thomas not out and Estuary and Kilmeen don't look like making it. I haven't seen Estuary or Kilmeen this year but I have seen The abbeys plough and stars and Druids Walworth farce in recent years. They are very strong plays and with estuary doing a Dublin play and Kilmeen a cork play you would have expected them to have featured strongly this year. But that level of consistency must be hard to sustain and I guess a change is good for the circuit too.

Will Groups like Bradan, Prosperous or thurles get their first win or will ballyduff get their second all Ireland.
i personally would like to see Prosperous or Ballyduff win - these groups have come so close in the last number of years and they both have superb directors- Lurleen Duggan and Geraldine Canning respectively

coghlan

Can anyone enlighten me as to why Ballycogley Players can win Wexford after an NP first time out then get a 3th after Wexford and last night get a NP in Shercock

Fudge dice

Well you say the same thing about yellowmoon in the ope section. They have one win and 3 no places!!

Fudge dice

I saw Prosperous's Beoing Beoing last night in Shercock and it was one of the best amateur productions I've seen on the circuit! Farce at its best!! The acting was superb and Robert Massey was exceptional as usual! The set, lights all excellent! And the direction was top class! Definitely a contender!!

pog it

Hey guys, is anyone keeping a blog on the latest events and news for the circuit?
Or any website which lists upcoming plays?

Thanks!

brightspark

pog it wrote: »

Hey guys, is anyone keeping a blog on the latest events and news for the circuit?
Or any website which lists upcoming plays?

Thanks!

http://www.adci.ie

http://www.itsyourline.com

Fudge dice

Very odd result from west waterford last night!!

yeppydeppy

coghlan wrote: »

Can anyone enlighten me as to why Ballycogley Players can win Wexford after an NP first time out then get a 3th after Wexford and last night get a NP in Shercock

Because it's one persons opinion in each place - the system should be abolished and replaced with a panel of 3 judges.

coghlan

Smacks of home town decisions in many cases .Would a crowd vote be a better way maybe charge a fee per vote instead of bringing these judges from afar and the expensive of putting then up .

yeppydeppy

Yeah, maybe or some sort of mixture between the crowd and a panel. You'd have to view all the plays of a festival to vote to try and avoid people rigging it with a rent a crowd.

coghlan

It's my first year involved at the festival and already I can get a bad smell about some of the results all you have to do is look at the results to see local teams filling the prize spots

TrailerBob

The problem with crowd involvement is that a sizeable number of audience mebmers are just out for the nights entertainment. They have neither the experience nor the background to determine the production quality or depth of characterisation, or the technical aspects of theatre production. (Nor do I for that matter, even after years of involvement). Some festivals do have audience awards.

It comes back to the idea of having competition in drama. You have to take the criticism of those entrusted to judge productions based on their experience. Some do very well, others have been questionable. But I don't think there is an easy answer - as 3 adjudicators would require a vastly bigger panel of people to choose from, or the same adj. being in 5 or 6 festivals on a panel.

And at the end of the day, everyone has an opinion, and I'm not sure there has ever been a decision that hasn't aggreaved somebody!

brightspark

yeppydeppy wrote: »

Yeah, maybe or some sort of mixture between the crowd and a panel. You'd have to view all the plays of a festival to vote to try and avoid people rigging it with a rent a crowd.

doesnt seem to work in the euro vision

pog it

brightspark wrote: »

http://www.adci.ie

http://www.itsyourline.com

Disappointed in the quality and layout of the ADCI's website. Is it all built inside one frame or some such? I found the schedule and I found the link for festivals on google maps but most of them were in 2010 or 2011.

Strange way to go about a website.

Thanks for the links though!

Fudge dice

So there we have it the nine groups qualified for athlone! I personally believe it is between the top 4 but them again Athlone is a completely different ball game where everybody has one chance to impress! And as I said before the time between now and Athlone is invaluable for groups! The next stage is the draw next week!

Fudge dice

What does everybody make of the draw??

yeppydeppy

pog it wrote: »

Disappointed in the quality and layout of the ADCI's website. Is it all built inside one frame or some such? I found the schedule and I found the link for festivals on google maps but most of them were in 2010 or 2011.

Strange way to go about a website.

Thanks for the links though!

It's possibly the worst website in Ireland.

As for the draw - I'd say it's now between Bradan and Prosperous.

Fudge dice

Ya both bradan, prosperous and Thurles got a great draw!! Can a group ever win on the opening night? Could it be Ballyduff??

pog it

Can either of you tell me more about the plays and players in these groups and where I can see them next time?

Fudge dice

pog it wrote: »

Can either of you tell me more about the plays and players in these groups and where I can see them next time?

The best place to get info about pre Athlone performance is Facebook! But a lot of the groups have websites! Any group in particular?

pog it

None in particular, would be interested in going to the finals in Athlone. Is it hard to get tickets? I'm not part of any group... yet!

Also, did any of the finalists put on a Marina Carr play by any chance?

Edit:

Just found the Athlone festival website if anyone is interested:
http://dramafestival.ie/

brightspark

The Dean Crowe box office opens at 10.30am on Friday, shows do sell out quickly so don't wait.

From their facebook page..

The Nenagh Players return to Nenagh Arts Centre for their pre- All Ireland Drama Festival run of 'The Outgoing Tide' by Bruce Graham on Wednesday, April 30th and Thursday, May 1st. Tickets on sale soon.



Thurles will announce their pre All Ireland dates soon.