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All-Ireland (Confined) Drama Finals 2017, Synopsis of Plays

Friday 21st April, 8.00pm
Take 5 Drama Group
"The Telephone Exchange" by Niamh Gleeson

The Telephone Exchange’ depicts the lives of 4 very different telephonists working in the Dublin exchange in the early 1960s. While they all share a passion for JFK and relish in eavesdropping on the lives and conversations of others, they are each coping with their own personal drama and it soon becomes apparent that the long hours and the colourful telephone calls they are privy to at the exchange offer a welcome distraction from their own dilemmas. This unique and highly engaging piece of drama written by Niamh Gleeson is laden with hilarious dialogue and poignant moments which are ever optimised and beautifully choreographed by director Noelle Clarke.

Saturday 22nd April, 8.00pm
Holycross/Ballycahill DG
"Little Gem" by Elaine Murphy

Amber has fierce bad indigestion and the Sambucas aren’t getting rid of it… Lorraine attacks a customer at work and her boss wants her to see a psychiatrist… Kay’s got an itch ‘down there’ that Gem can’t scratch…but maybe Kermit can??? Paul just uses Amber until he can get to Australia… The hairy man fancies Lorraine but fails to rise to the occasion…And Gem doesn’t like the neighbours coming in to ‘mind’ him. And if all that isn’t bad enough, little Gem makes his presence felt and…well…life is never the same again!

Sunday 23rd April, 8.00pm
Lislea Dramatic Players
"Juno and The Paycock" by Sean O'Casey

The play is set in the Dublin tenements in 1922 during the Irish Civil War.

Monday 24th April, 8.00pm
Doonbeg Drama Group
“The Night Alive” by Conor McPherson

Tommy’s not a bad man, he’s getting by, rolling from one get- rich- quick scheme to another with his pal Doc until the arrival of Aimee into his life who is struggling through life also……
‘You only get a few goes. At life.’

Tuesday 25th April, 8.00pm
Schull Drama Group
"Last of the Red Hot Lovers" by Neil Simon

Last of the Red Hot Lovers is one of the most amusing of Neil Simon’s comedies. The play is set in the 60’s, and we have situated it somewhere in the South of England. The play focuses on Barney Cashman – middle-aged, married and overworked – as he begins to feel a desire for sexual adventure. Over a nine month period, he invites three women to this mother’s apartment to have an afternoon of extramarital sex. The first, Elaine Navazio, proves to be a bundle of neuroses; Bobbi Michele is next, a kooky 20-ish actress; finally Jeanette Fisher, a gloomy, depressed housewife who is married to Barney’s best friend. Will Barney’s attempts at seduction be successful?

Wednesday 26th April, 8.00pm
Sillan Players
“The Trappe Family” by Seamus O’Rourke

Sylvester Trappe fell off his garage roof five years ago and died. Every year since then his wife drags her three sons and one daughter up to the same rooftop to commemorate his death and some of his life. This play is about a family in the northwest of Ireland on a rooftop in 2007 looking out over the town and themselves. So much has changed, so much has not…

Thursday 27th April, 8.00pm
Dunmore Amateur Dramatic Society (DADS)
“The Odd Couple”  by Neil Simon

If the slovenly condition of Oscar Madison’s apartment is anything to go by, it is no wonder that his wife has divorced him.  When his fastidious friend Felix Ungar arrives with nowhere to go, having just separated and trying to hold himself together, Oscar offers to help by inviting him to move in. With their new living arrangements, Oscar and Felix’s idiosyncrasies come to the fore and relationships are tested to breaking point

Friday 28th April, 8.00pm
Newtownstewart Theatre Company
“The Hen Night Epiphany” by Jimmy Murphy

Should some secrets never be kept no matter what the cost.  Five women come together to help clear out a run-down cottage a week before the wedding of its new owner, Una. Joining her on this hen night of sorts are her two best friends, Kelly & Triona, her soon to be mother in law, Olive, and Olive’s best friend, Anta.  But Una is keeping a secret, if revealed, will destroy all hopes of her dream wedding and living happily ever after with the love of her life.  As the play unfolds we see the women, one by one, forced to confront awkward truths of their own.

Saturday 29th April, 7.00pm
Glenamaddy Players
“By the Bog of Cats”  by Marina Carr

Loosely based on Euripide’s tragedy – Medea. Marina Marina Carr’s lyrical and timeless play tells the prophetic tale of Hester Swane, an Irish Traveller, who struggles to come to terms with a lifetime of abandonment. This is the story of one woman’s courageous attempts to lay claim to what is hers:  her caravan, her house and her daughter.  On the brink of despair she embarks on a journey of vengeance as the secrets of her tangled history are revealed.