A Russian vocalist spoke of concern for the Serbs and the war before singing an American spiritual to an audience that included US servicemen and women over from their base in Germany. Then she sang The Wild Rover ("I vent into a bistro I used to frequent"). The Brendan Watters Lunchtime Theatre at Dundalk Drama International has matured into a truly cosmopolitan event. Stunning monologues from Miriam Lewis (Jerusalem) and Dirk de Corte (Belgium), magic from New York'sThe Great Charlini, one-act plays and Bluegrass and Irish music kept houses packed.
The same mix succeeded at the Guinness Late Night Theatre where a French woman played Joan of Arc, and there were excerpts from The Mikado and Alan Bennett monologues. There was street and pub theatre as well as the drama of Charles Haughey opening an art exhibition.
Dundalk International's main evening programme opened with Enniscorthy's The Cripple of Inishmaan. The production had won the Welsh and All-Ireland Festivals in preceding weeks and was hoping for the Cripple Crown. The local Dundalk Theatre Workshop presented its Athlone runner-up production of Someone Who'll Watch over Me. (In all, I saw three productions.)
Terrace Playhouse/Roadside Theatre from Germany presented three short Christopher Durang plays. Nina in the Morning and Medea were successful, and displayed some good production initiatives. The longer For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls lacked fluidity and suffered from some inadequate voice projection.
Delta Centre Stage gave an intense production of the difficult Agnes of God by John Peilmeier. The company had three excellent actresses but there was no variety in pace or grouping and little enough in voices. A protruding veil on Sr Agnes sometimes deprived her features of lighting. Yet, this was an engrossing and extremely impressive production, with excellent design and lighting co-ordination. Dermot Bolger's knockabout comedy Blinded by the Light received a spirited and highly entertaining production from Silken Thomas Players from Kildare. The often frenzied pace atoned for the play's irritatingly frequent entries and exits. I have seldom heard such laughter from a Dundalk audience.
Other Festival plays were Top Girls by Caryl Churchill (ImpAct! Theatre, Bournemouth), Once a Catholic by Mary O'Malley (Newpoint Players) and the world premiere of Nicholas Wright's version of Pirandello's Naked (South London Theatre). Upstate Live staged a non-competitive production of Declan Gorman's Hades before Sunday evening's awards ceremony.
Results
The Eircell International Premier Award went to Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Dundalk Theatre Workshop). The group also won awards for Best Director (Matt Murphy) and Best Actor (Stephen Burns), and the Audience Award. Other results included: Best Actress: Norma Doyle, Enniscorthy Players; Best Supporting Actor: Liam Quinlivan, Silken Thomas Players, Kildare; Best Supporting Actress: Lorraine Rowan, ImpAct! Theatre, Bournemouth; Best Lighting Design: Delta Centre Stage, Mississippi; Best Set Design: Silken Thomas Players, Kildare; Adjudicators' Award: Newpoint Players Music Design; Most Promising Talent: Verity Tengle, Bournemouth; Costume Design: Bournemouth; Best Young Player: Louise Finn, Newpoint. Certificates of Merit: Ann Keogh, Patricia Richardson, Lin Denning, Form 5a Pupils, Newpoint, Deborah Stubbs, Scott Fults, Mark Stafford and Imelda McGillicuddy.
