Austin Garvin
The 42nd Claremorris Drama Festival concluded on Monday night last in Claremorris Town Hall. The Festival was one of the best to date with audiences up on recent years. Once again, the esteem in which the Festival is held, was borne out with some of the top groups in the entire country performing at the Festival. Paula Dempsey, the adjudicator, described the festival as’ the friendliest she had ever adjudicated a’t. She said the standard was very high overall and she found it extremely difficult to decide on the various winners’. She awarded the Ray Leonard Memorial Trophy to the Ballyduff Drama Group, Co Galway for their performance of Arthur Miller’s acclaimed play The Crucible.
The following were the results: Best Play (Open); 1, Ballyduff Drama Group ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller; 2, Prosperous Dramatic Society, ‘Deadline’, by Robert Massey; 3, Ennis Players, The Lonesome West, by Martin McDonagh.
Best Play (Confined); O’Brien’s Bar Trophy, 1 Sliabh Aughty, ‘The Will be Done’, by Michael Carey; 2, D.A.D.S Dunmore, ‘The Weir’, by Conor McPherson; 3, Compantás Lir, ‘The Curious Savage’, by John Patrick
Best Producer (Open); Fr PV O’Brien Memorial Trophy Ger Canning (Ballyduff, ‘The Crucible’); Best Producer (Confined); (Sponsored by The Gift Centre) John Allen (Sliabh Aughty, ‘The Will be Done’); Best Female Actor (Open): (Eileen Dyer Memorial Trophy) Noelle Clarke as Mama in ‘Night Mother’ (Palace Players, Fermoy); Best Male Actor (Open); (Tony Kitching Memorial Trophy) Robert Massey as Stewart Pepper in ‘Deadline’ (Prosperous Dramatic Society); Best Female Actor (Confined); Mary Dixon as Eileen Osbourne in ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ (Garrymore); Best Male Actor (Confined); (M J Reidy Trophy) Noel Hogan as Jack Griffin in ‘Thy Will be Done’ (Sliabh Aughty); Best Supporting Female Actor (Open); Sally O’Leary as Abagail Williams in ‘The Crucible’ (Ballyduff); Best Supporting Male Actor (Open); Courtney Canning as Rev John Hale in ‘The Crucible’ (Ballyduff); Best Supporting Female Actor (Confined); Ruth o’Driscoll as Fairy May in ‘The Curious Savage’ (Compantas); Best Supporting Maale Actor (Confined); Neil Higgins as Bartley in ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ (Garrymore); Audience Trophy; Ennis Players with ‘The Lonesome West’l Best Presentation Overall; (Seán Quinn Memorial Trophy) Ballyduff ‘The Crucible’; Adjudicator’s Awards; 1, The Girls from ‘The Crucible’ (Ballyduff); 2, Hugh Gallagher as Coleman in ‘The Lonesome West’ (Ennis Players); 3, Jackie Scanlan as Valene in ‘The Lonesome West’ (Ennis Players); 4, Joan Walkin as Valerie in ‘The Weir’ (DADS)
5, The Garrymore Stage Crew for ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’; Best Set (Open); (Eamon P.Hughes Memorial Trophy) Prosperous Dramatic Society ‘Deadline’; Best Lighting (Open); Ballyduff Drama Group.