Student drama shows us what theatre can be

`ARE there any other colleges out there," the MC, Claire Garvey (UCD Dramsoc) cried into the SFX crowd on Saturday night as UCC's Dramat carried off award after award at the closing ceremony of ISDA 2000. Second-year UCC English and Philosophy student, Tom Creed, emerged from clouds of dry ice every couple of minutes to make acceptance speeches, as the awards for best set design, best technical design, best director, and best overall production were bestowed on him for UCC's Equus. (Claire Garvey, groaning: "Is there anything you can't do?)

The judges' decision underlined the point that an unadventurous choice of play could be redeemed by the coherence and flair brought to it by a good director. Their praise for every aspect of this production was accentuated by their admission earlier in the week that they didn't have a high regard for Peter Shaffer's dated play, which featured twice during the six-day festival. (ISDA newcomers, DIT, also presented it.) Audiences will have a chance to see UCC's production when it plays in Cork's Granary Theatre in May.

UCC's three other offerings, Albee's The Sandbox, Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Raymond Scannell's new play, Breathing Water, already reviewed here (it won a discretionary award for "the most innovative and sexiest production") displayed the impressive range of talents currently amassed in Cork.

Particularly notable was their attention to stagecraft, which was generally very weak throughout the festival - from set design and use of the stage, to lighting design, sound, costumes and props. These appeared to be regarded by participants as additional or decorative elements rather than an integral part of any production, the means by which the director's reading of the play is communicated.

If the adjudication process at ISDA can help to raise standards of stagecraft, that will be just as valuable as its encouragement of new writing, which, over the past few years, has been emerging as an exciting feature of the festival. The second discretionary award this year was for best new writing, which went to UCD Dramsoc's The Rock Bottom Cafe.

The story of a soccer player who is selected for the England team at the age of 18 and goes spectacularly off the rails was written by Edward Traynor and Darren McHugh, who also performed. As a study of alcoholism it has emotional depth; as a satire on soccer's celebrity culture it is acutely and comically observed. Edward Traynor's performance as the likeable, confused footballer is convincing and moving, and Darren McHugh won the best actor award for his impressive versatility, as he played every other character in the drama.

The script needs some rigorous redrafting, especially in the second half, where the staging needs to be re-configured, but this is an impressive piece of work, which will be seen at the Dublin Fringe Festival in October.

The Rock Bottom Cafe was one of the highlights of a week in which the commitment, enthusiasm and energy of the participants swept us along, making us sit up, open our eyes and relearn what theatre can be. It was, as chair of the judging panel, Karen Fricker, said in her closing speech, "our pleasure and our privilege" to be there.