Ballyduff Drama Group from Co. Waterford
Scoops Top Award in Special 70th Year of RT All Ireland Drama Festival
Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, were crowned RT All Ireland Drama Champions for their performance of Rabbit Hole' by David Lindsay-Abaire at the Gala Awards ceremony in Athlone's Radisson Blu Hotel on Saturday May 14th as the curtain came down on the 70th year of the RT All Ireland Drama Festival. Bunclody/Kilmyshall Drama Group, directed by Kieran Tyrell, who performed The Good Father' by Christian O'Reilly were placed second and Palace Players, directed by Danny Buckley, who performed Chapatti' also by Christian O'Reilly were placed third.
Rabbit Hole' is David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer prize-winning drama featuring a happy suburban couple who have everything they could want until a shocking and sudden event turns their world upside down and leaves them drifting perilously apart. Ballyduff Drama Group have been on the three act circuit for over 30 years. They are directed by Ger Canning, who won the Best Director award. The Adjudicator, Michael Poynor, commended her for extracting all the humour and pathos from the play and inspiring a remarkable ensemble performance for the group'. There was great excitement when the results were announced. The group previously won the All Ireland back in 2004 with Marina Carr's On Raftery's Hill'. In addition to best director they also take home the Award for Best Stage Management, the Award for Best Stage Setting and one of their actors, Ronan Bennett, who played Jason in the play, won the ADCI/DLI Summer School Scholarship.
Other award winners included Robert Massey, Prosperous Dramatic Society, who played Alan in God of Carnage' who won the award for Best Actor. Mary Colbert, Palace Players, who played Betty in Chapatti', won the best actress award. The award for Best Supporting Actor went to Dermot Byrne who played the Lord of the Underworld in Eurydice performed by Dalkey Players. Sharon Mawe, Kilmeen Drama Group, who played Peggy in Conversations on a Homecoming, won the Best Supporting Actress Award. The award for best stage lighting, designed by Kevin McEvoy, went to The Good Father', Bunclody/Kilmyshall Drama Group. The John Butler Scholarship to the Drama League of Ireland (DLI) Summer School 2022 went to Alison Murphy, Kilmeen Drama Group, who played Anne in Conversations on a Homecoming'. Butt Drama Circle's Shaun Byrne won the Adjudicator's prize for New writing' - An Incident with Dave Cotter'. Shaun wrote, directed and acted in the play.
It was a glittering evening of celebration in Athlone in a week that saw thousands flock to the Athlone where, following a hiatus of two years, the very best of amateur drama was on display in the newly refurbished Dean Crowe Theatre.
Speaking before the awards presentation, the Festival Director, Regina Bushell, remarked that this year has been such a challenging time for all of our drama groups, our festivals and for our adjudicators. Play readings and rehearsals were practiced over zoom and even outdoors in splendid isolation! It was been the pure love, commitment and dedication of the amateur drama
movement in Ireland that made the festivals happen right across the country in such a short space of time this year to deliver the magic that is theatre with superb productions on stage'. She added that the festival was a great success and that a lively and entertaining Festival Club took place each night after performances and an expanding and diverse Festival Fringe ran in parallel with the Festival. Athlone town shone and showcased its best with themed window displays, flags and flower arrangements. Regina expressed her sincere gratitude to the festival's main sponsors, RT , for their continued support of the festival and the extensive coverage the festival had received for this its 70th year. She also thanked the nighty sponsors and the local and national media for getting full-square behind the festival and contributing to the successful event it has become. She thanked Athlone Credit Union for their continued support of the Festivals Schools Playwright Competition which grows from strength to strength! Speaking on behalf of RT , former Head of Radio, Tom McGuire, noted that RT 's role in the drama festival was important because the festival was not just about fostering the arts, it was also about tapping into local communities in every corner of this island. And that's why RT needs to be here today.'
Regina thanked the new co-directors from the Abbey Theatre, Caitr ona McLaughlin and Mark O'Brien for their support and their generous invitation to the winners of the 2022 Abbey Award, to perform on the Peacock stage next month. Before announcing the winners they stated that it's really important that amateur drama groups are giving young people and people who aspire to being in the industry professionally, a place to discover theatre and a place to discover the skills and the storytelling. And what it means to be an artist'. Announcing Ballyduff as the winners of the Abbey Award they noted that they loved the ambition, the uniformity of the quality of acting and the ensemble'. They thought there was great commitment to the emotional arcs in the play, and they really enjoyed the detail in such a naturalistic set'.
First time adjudicator at the festival is Mr. Michael Poynor, President and Chair of ADA and an award winning Director and Lighting Designer. He summed up that this year's final has seen an extraordinarily accomplished collection of plays, the standards of acting and direction reaching dizzying heights!' He highlighted the collective effort of the groups noting that the nine competing companies involved 190 peop
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's leading streaming television channels, at NAB 2026 will be launching new Studio services to help content ow...
07/04/2026
Ikegami USA has chosen NAB 2026 in Las Vegas as the launch platform for new additions to its range of broadcast-quality television production equipment. These w...
07/04/2026
April 19, 2026, Las Vegas Kiloview, an innovative provider of AV-over-IP technologies, will showcase its latest broadcast IP solutions at NAB 2026, presenting...
07/04/2026
Bitmovin has announced support for Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) across its playback products using HLS interstitials, enabling more advanced ad-supported s...
07/04/2026
Synamedia is unveiling AI by Quortex at The NAB show, a just-in-time AI plugin framework that applies intelligence only when needed across video processing, dis...
07/04/2026
Cuez will showcase four additions to its cloud-based newsroom, rundown and automation platform at NAB Show 2026 (April 18 22, Las Vegas, Booth N1867):
Cuez ...
07/04/2026
CueScript to Showcase Innovations at NAB that Add Mobility Options, Ease Editing...
07/04/2026
Barix Extends Transport Options for Multi-Engine IP Encoder
Brie Clayton April 7, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB, Barix adds SRT and RIST support to Mult...
07/04/2026
Elite Media Technologies Selects Interra Systems' BATON File-Based QC Soluti...
07/04/2026
Tightrope Media Systems to Debut Cablecast LiveBridge for Simultaneous Streaming...
07/04/2026
Cuez Brings Four New Innovations to NAB 2026: From Story-Centric Newsroom to Ope...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...
07/04/2026
Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores The orchestra, led by associate professor Xander Rovang, will perform several work...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
Ballyduff Drama Group from Co. Waterford
