THE Western Drama Festival, taking place this week in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, is the State's oldest surviving amateur drama festival.
Apart from 1947, when blizzards blocked the roads, it has taken place every year since 1944. But its advancing age and venerable reputation do not mean it has become irrelevant, although its programme reflects the general weaknesses of amateur drama.
Four of the nine visiting groups are travelling to Tubbercurry for the first time. They include the newly formed Silver Apple Productions in Sligo, which will present No Comet Seen, a new play by John Kavanagh based on the mutiny of the Connacht Rangers in India in 1920.
The other newcomers, Letterkenny Music and Drama Group, Estuary Players in Dublin and the Stacumny Players in Celbridge, offer more traditional fare by Brian Friel, Bernard Farrell and Sean O'Casey.
Other contributions reflect amateur drama's biggest problem: the lack of new plays and the innate conservatism of many of those involved.
The event opened on Friday with Silken Thomas Players production of Conversations on a Homecoming by Tom Murphy, a well worn item on the festival circuit.
Last night Corofin Dramatic Society staged Frank McGuinness's The Factory Girls. Set in a shirt factory in the late 1970s, the relevance of McGuinness's play to the industrial landscape of the 1990s is questionable, to say the least.
But the most remarkable aspect of the festival, and others like it, is its survival against the odds into the 1990s. At a time of increasing entertainment choices from television, film and video, and increased rural mobility, the wonder is that some people are still prepared to make the huge commitment in time and effort needed to keep amateur drama afloat.
But the future is uncertain, according to one young actor and director, Mr Peter Davey. He is involved in the Silver Apple group and travelled 22 miles each way to Sligo to take part in rehearsals several nights a week. The director, Prin Duignan, travelled the same distance from Manor Hamilton. Other groups tell a similar story. He says it is becoming more difficult to get people involved. Actors have some compensation (the feedback they get from audiences) but there are few rewards for the people, usually women, who work behind the scenes.
"Amateurism in general is losing its magic. The groups are very lucky to have people who will give unstintingly of their time, but it's getting more difficult to get them to do that." Another related development is that some of the bigger names on the circuit no longer do the rounds. They choose instead to concentrate on building a small theatre in their home base.
This is being helped by initiatives to develop small regional theatres, a trend given a considerable boost by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, he says.
"It's a very healthy development, but what kind of repercussions will we see on the festival circuit over the next few years?"
Festival chairman Michael Morley says the growth of regional theatres may have the opposite effect, developing an interest in theatre in general which will rub off on the amateur groups.
His optimism is shared by a veteran member of the festival committee, Mr Oliver Flannery. He says Tubbercurry will never see a return to the glory days of the 1940s and 1950s, when nearly all the parishes surrounding the town entered plays each year.
Many were rehearsed in barns and kitchens, with sets cobbled together from whatever was available. "The stagecraft was maybe a bit raw but they had the enthusiasm," he says.
Compared to 10 years ago, today's audiences are "slightly smaller but more selective" he says. "With all of the acting they see on TV they are expecting more from the players on the stage." He says amateur drama experienced its leanest period in the 1960s shortly after the advent of TV and says the forthcoming digital revolution will not be a threat.
"It's a live performance and people have gotten fed up with the canned programmes we see on TV ... I'm hoping against hope that this type of technology will not dampen the enthusiasm of people who want to get up, on stage and express themselves.