Progress through festivals

Skibbereen happy with "Trip To Tubber"

Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo, was the venue for this year's finals, which took place from Thursday, April 18, to Sunday 28th, inclusive, with eleven groups from all over the country appearing and Donegal man Patsy Croal, who judged the West Cork Drama Festival in 1999, as the adjudicator.

The Skibbereen group had the furthest to travel, but they gave it their best shot and were happy that they had done justice to their efforts. Disappointingly, after the final adjudication, they did not figure among the prizewinners, but were delighted with the response they got from the audience in Tubbercurry.

To qualify for the All-Ireland finals, the Skibb group won drama festivals in Rossmore and Castleisland. In the other festivals, they finished second in New Ross and third in Scarriff, Holycross and Charleville, as well as picking up several acting awards.

"Lovers Meeting" had a cast of nine, including Fachtna O'Driscoll, Catherine Field, Majella McCarthy, Carmel O'Driscoll, Judy Burke, Con Downing, Tod McCarthy, Bernard O'Regan and Frank McCarthy.

Stage manager was Tonette Downing, lighting was by John Hegarty, sound by Niall O'Driscoll and Neil Downing, costumes by Brenda O'Driscoll and make-up by Anna McCarthy, while also involved backstage were Colette McCarthy, Clare O'Driscoll and Emer Downing. Set construction was aided by the dynamic Teagasc trio of Tom Curran, Gerard Courtney and Skibbereen's ambassador to Sligo, Padraic Welsh-Walsh-Welsh, as well as Tipperary's Richard and Bea Delahunty, with moral support from Margaret and Seamus Ryan, all of whom travelled from Skibbereen for the show, while Cliona Mulcahy and Rachel Field journeyed from Dublin for the occasion.

Latest Festival Results - Scarriff, Holycross, Charleville & New Ross

Skibbereen Theatre Society achieved second place at the New Ross Drama Festival in Co. Wexford last week. Con Downing won the Best Supporting Actor award, while Judy Burke brought home the Best Supporting Actress trophy. The adjudicator was Tom Honan.

The group came third at the North Cork Drama Festival confined section in Charleville, it was announced recently. Frank McCarhty was awarded the Best Supporting Prize for his part as Batt Seery, deemed the Red Hot Sex Machine by festival adjudicator Scott Marshall.

They also finished third at the Tipperary Drama Festival in Holycross, at which Catherine Field was awarded a Certificate of Merit.

Win at West Cork Drama Festival for Skibbereen Theatre Society

The latest success for the group came at the West Cork Drama Festival in Rossmore on Sunday night, when they were announced as winners by adjudicator Marie O'Sullivan from Bristol. Fachtna O'Driscoll won the Best Director award, while Catherine Field and Frank McCarthy were named as Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.

The previous week, 'Lovers Meeting' had won the Kerry Drama Festival at Castleisland for the Skibb group, with Fachtna O'Driscoll winning both the Best Director and Best Actor awards and Judy Burke being chosen as Best Actress by adjudicator Michael Twomey.

Skibbereen Theatre Society wins Kerry Drama Festival

It was a great result for the group's artistic director, Fachtna O'Driscoll, who not only won the Best Director award, but also Best Actor. The Skibb production was in competition with four other plays in the section and all three nominations for the Best Actress award were for Skibb cast members, with Judy Burke taking the honours ahead of Catherine Field and Carmel O'Driscoll.

In his adjudication, Michael Twomey remarked that there was no weak link in the Skibbereen cast and he praised the group's set which evoked a rural Irish household in the early 1940s. Currently, they are busy on the festival circuit, having opened the West Cork Drama Festival in Rossmore on Friday last, March 8th, and they have dates coming up in Charleville, Holycross, New Ross and Scariff between now and Easter.

In the meantime, by popular demand, they will be staging 'Lovers Meeting' at Skibbereen Town Hall on Wednesday and Thursday, March 20th and 21st, nightly at 8 p.m., and bookings may be made in advance through Thornhill Electrical, Skibbereen, telephone 028-22316.