A HUGE crowd attended the recent launch of the 52nd Wexford Drama Festival which took place in the Riverbank House Hotel and featured entertainment from some of the groups who will take part in the event in March.
This year’s festival features seven Wexford groups with a selection of plays from American classic drama to Irish classics and hilarious farce.
Speeches were made by Mayor of Wexford Cllr. George Lawlor, Co. Council Chairman Cllr. Malcolm Byrne, Assistant Manager in the Riverbank Tommy Doyle, and by Festival Chairperson Aoife Byrne who expressed her delight that for the first time in four years she had not been let down by a cancelling adjudicator or drama group!
She welcomed the representatives of the various participating groups and extended her best wishes to all those undertaking pre-festival runs.
“I have been saying for the last four years that amateur drama groups do not receive enough recognition for their social, cultural and economic contributions to local communities and I firmly believe that it is time they did.”
The festival will be officially opened by author John Banville on Thursday, March 5.
The full line up for the festival is:
March 5 – ‘Kings of the Kilburn High Road’ by Jimmy Murphy, performed by Kilmuckridge Drama Group.
March 6 – ‘Moll’ by John B. Keane, performed by Craanford Drama Group.
March 7 – ‘The Price’ by Arthur Miller, performed by Doonbeg Drama Group.
March 9 – ‘Stolen Child’ by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh and Yvonne Quinn, performed by Bunclody/Kilmyshall Drama Group.
March 10 – ‘Poor Beast in the Rain’ by Billy Roche, performed by Kilrush Drama Group.
March 11 – ‘The Seafarer’ by Conor McPherson, performed by Wexford Drama Group.
March 12 – ‘Pygmalion’ by George Bernard Shaw, performed by Bridge Drama Group.
March 13 – ‘There Goes the Bride’ by Ray Cooney and John Chapman, performed by Ballycogley Players.
All performances are at 8 p.m. nightly in the Dun Mhuire Theatre. Patron’s tickets are €60 for all shows or tickets are €12/10 per show.
For tickets contact Wexford Arts Centre on www.wexfordartscentre.ie, 053 91 23764 or pick up your tickets on the door.
[Full story in this week’s Echo]