COLLEGE Players, Limerick, have won the British All-Winners Theatre Festival with Metamorphosis (from Kafka) by Steven Berkoff. They beat off stiff opposition from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. The adjudicator Scott Marshall, was loud in his praise for the production, which received a standing ovation in Southport.
The production's success began in Rossmore Festival in 1995, where adjudicator Irene Rostron sent it on its way to the All-Ireland Finals. Irene was in Southport to see her choice justified. Recently, the group won the P.J. O'Connor Awards for radio plays. Now they prepare to take their winning production to Japan in the Autumn. They will represent Ireland in an International Festival of Orchestral work, Opera and Drama. Normally, the event is confined to professional productions.
Donegal Drama Circle reports success for their 15th Summer Season at the Old Cinema Donegal Town with Marina Carr's The Mai, directed by Paul Buckley.
The Annual Convention of the Drama League of Ireland will be held in Cobb, Co. Cork, on Saturday and Sunday October 12th and 13th. Before this announcement was made, Larry Me Cluskey, former National Executive Member, who resigned in protest at the Executive's handling of the Gormanston Summer School issue, sent circulars to as many members as he knew.
He and others had been seeking names and addresses from the NEC since April, but could not elicit information. Larry is strongly critical in his circular and he wants members to demand an Extraordinary General Meeting in September, so that what he says is the real agenda of amateur drama (better national organisation, improved facilities, more quality training and reasonable public funding)" will not again be neglected.
One of Larry's complaints is that League's Newsletter does not comment on its own recent legal interlude. Ironically, the July edition of the Newsletter contains an extract from last year's Arts Council Theatre Review document, Views Of Theatre In Ireland. Many of the views contained in it are Larry Me Cluskey's. The same Newsletter gives, at last, the League's membership list without addresses.
The DLI's National Executive has established an arrangement with the Drama Association of Wales, whereby 200,000 scripts will be available to their members at 36p a week. The Welsh claim to have the largest specialist drama lending library in the world, with every one-act and full length script currently in any catalogue available. Audio-tapes, biographies, works of criticism and of a technical nature are also available. John Forrest, 11 Blackrock, Monavalley, Tralee, Co. Kerry, has the details.
The DLI reports a successful lecture And costume display from Joan O Cleirigh of the Abbey Theatre during their Maynooth Summer School.
