
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
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
01/07/2025
The launch of Code of Silence, coupled with the Britains Got Talent semi final, gave ITV its best Sunday night of 2025.
The first episode of the new crime dr...
01/07/2025
ITV and Mammoth Screen have announced the start of filming for Betrayal, a gripp...
01/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies has delivered its second Bombardier Global 6500 missionize...
01/07/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., July 1, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its second quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, Ju...
01/07/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations, renewing the licenses for Chesapeake...
01/07/2025
Dalet has released a new update to its Dalet Flex media workflow platform, introducing powerful new capabilities to its flagship platform....
01/07/2025
NEWARK, N.J. With the FIFA Club World Cup final rapidly approaching and the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup now less than a year away, interest in soccer in th...
01/07/2025
COW Job Listing: Laser Engraved Logo
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
Laser engraved logo
July 1, 2025Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Cr...
01/07/2025
LeGrow.Studio Builds Broadcast Hub for ePro League
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
TEM Constellation HD and BlackmagicURSA Broadcast G2 drive liv...
01/07/2025
Beeble launches SwitchLight 2.0, bringing AI-powered relighting to any footage
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
New AI model delivers full-scene p...
01/07/2025
Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Created with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K digital film camera...
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a consent decree with Sinclair to resolve a variety of in...
01/07/2025
DENVER Low-power television (LPTV) station owners looking to navigate the complexities of selling their assets in todays dynamic media environment are invited t...
01/07/2025
NASA announced today that live programming from its NASA+ channel will be available on Netflix starting sometime this summer....
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has appointed Katie McAuliffe to serve as policy advisor in his office....
01/07/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Alphabet's GFiber, the broadband provider formerly known as Google Fiber, has announced that it recently worked with Nokia to demonstr...
01/07/2025
NEW YORK, N.Y. DoubleVerify (DV) has announced the launch of DV Authentic Attention for Social. The product will first launch with Snap, the owner of Snapchat....
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations and agreed to renew the license for C...
01/07/2025
Compact new converter lets users capture live NDI and streaming sources into software over a USB interface
Video interface and IP workflow innovator Magewell ...
01/07/2025
Disguise, the award-winning tech company driving visuals for Broadway and West End hits including Redwood, Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Disney's Fr...
01/07/2025
Vocal-processing plug-in joins NOIZ Hub series
Launched in 2024, KIT Plugins' NOIZ Hub series was created with the aim of providing a range of professio...
01/07/2025
New self-paced learning programme announced
Mastering.com have announced the availability of a new online course designed to cover the fundamentals of maste...
01/07/2025
Historic appointment ushers in unified leadership for WRAL-TV, New Media, and Digital Solutions
RALEIGH, N.C. - 6-27-25 - Capitol Broadcasting Company is prou...
01/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...
01/07/2025
The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...
01/07/2025
Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...
01/07/2025
NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...
01/07/2025
TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...
01/07/2025
cetecom advanced certifies Rohde & Schwarz test solution for the verification of...
01/07/2025
Back to All News
Watch: A Line Crossed: Netflix Drops Explosive Trailer for New...
01/07/2025
Tyngsboro, Mass. - June 30, 2025 - The 2025 ACM Annual Conference at Boston University was an energizing and inspiring gathering of community media professional...
01/07/2025
RT has announced that Teresa Smith has been appointed Commissioning Editor with responsibility for Factual Entertainment following a public competition. This s...
01/07/2025
This July, RT is delighted to support Galway International Arts Festival, Earagail Arts Festival in Donegal, Belfast TradFest and 23 other arts and cultural ev...
01/07/2025
In many parts of the world, including major technology hubs in the U.S., there's a yearslong wait for AI factories to come online, pending the buildout of n...
30/06/2025
There's nothing quite like the magic of finding music that feels made just f...
30/06/2025
When it comes to new music, Spotify's team of editors across North America is always on the hunt for songs that make them feel, think, and move. They're...
30/06/2025
SBS On Demand boosts global news offering with launch of France 24 FAST Channel
30 June, 2025
Media releases
SBS is expanding its international news offeri...
30/06/2025
Star Studded Ensemble Cast Are Joined by Richard Rankin as Filming Begins on the Second Season
[June 12, 2025 - Boston, MA]: The Forsytes, Debbie Horsfield...
30/06/2025
The Artemis II Space Launch System core stage is integrated with the solid rocket boosters inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy S...
30/06/2025
RALEIGH, N.C. Capitol Broadcasting Co. has named Heather Gray vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and WRAZ-TV here....
30/06/2025
The Virginia Association of Broadcasters has recognized Bill Sewell, Director of Engineering at WTKR & WGNT in Norfolk, Va. as the recipient of the 2025 J.J. Fr...
30/06/2025
The Society of Broadcast Engineers said its annual member drive resulted in the recruitment of 49 individual members....
30/06/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid today released its fully integrated news platform, uniting MediaCentral and Wolftech News in a single newsroom solution, and will demonst...
30/06/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communication's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a Consent Decree with Sinclair Broadcast Group to resolve a variety o...
30/06/2025
Eurorack sequencer module reimagined
California-based modular synth innovators Qu-Bit have announced the launch of a new module that offers a fresh new take...
30/06/2025
Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics to Host 40th Anniversary Concert The celebration will be held on July 10 in Perugia, Italy.
By
Colette Greenstein
June 30, 202...
30/06/2025
PremiumBeat Tips and Tricks
Brie Clayton June 30, 2025
0 Comments
When editing to impress, you'll need quality music, and if your studio happens t...