The Drama Festival 2013
Lisnaskea High School was the venue for the 2013 Drama Festival on Saturday 13th April. The adjudicator was Mr Eamonn Bradley, B.A. Hons. Entries included five sketches and three plays, which shows a healthy increase of interest this year.
The morning began with the sketches section. Participants were Kesh, Newtownbutler, Lisnaskea, Spa and Kells & Connor. Kesh kicked off the proceedings with a very humorous sketch entitled The New Doctor. This sketch was set in a doctor’s surgery and featured the character Doctor Hacketoff who was of dubious foreign extraction. The first patient to see the doctor gave birth to a bouncing baby quickly in the surgery, initially allaying any fears the other waiting patients had. This feeling was soon to change, however, as sore fingers and painful bunions were “cured” or hacked off!
Newtownbutler’s sketch was entitled All Sorts at a Bus Stop. It was well staged and the characters were very believable. The sketch featured two old ladies waiting for the bus with heavy bags of shopping, a rather important lady looking for Michelle Obama, a farmer, and a gentleman accompanied with his little dog looking for a dog show. The sketch was well produced and obvious thought had been given to the set, costumes and in particular the groupings of actors on stage. The ladies of Newtownbutler are to be applauded as every member of their institute took part in the sketch.
Lisnaskea’s sketch was called The School Inspection. The story focused on the aftermath of a school inspection and showed awkward pupils and situations being discussed in the staffroom. The piece flowed well, linking four very funny jokes.
Spa came next with their sketch Mother Knows Best. Particularly noteworthy was Liz Smyth who played a rotund Rab C Nesbitt-type of character, complete with bald head, string vest and arm tattoos!
Kells & Connor completed this section with their offering As Others See Us. This sketch portrayed two very different types of families spending a day at the beach. The antics of one family were very funny, however, the adjudicator drew attention to the fact that the funny antics of one distracted from the other.
The winning sketch was from Newtownbutler who won five awards. This was a very popular decision with the audience on the day.
The afternoon was devoted to three plays. First on stage was Armoy with their performance entitled Costa Del Packet. The play depicted every tourist’s nightmare. The characters were brought by Flitwell Tours to the site of a hotel which wasn’t yet fully built and were expected to spend their holiday on the building site. The star of the play was Ann Patton who played Alice, a rather pathetic character, who was dominated and put upon by her friend Vera (Nuala Dornan). Alice was supported by friends Lesley (Elaine Wilson) and Sally (Marlene Walsh) who tried to make the best of a bad situation.
This was followed by Desertcreat’s play Mrs Black’s Driving Test. They presented a wonderful duologue which had the audience laughing immediately and throughout. Well done ladies!
Finally, Muckamore performed their play entitled The Rehearsal. The story followed ladies of the WI as they struggled to rehearse for a new play led by an increasingly frustrated producer (Elizabeth Gray). They convincingly depicted rehearsals that were constantly being interrupted by a tea lady who had her own agenda.
All of the W.I. members who took part made the day very entertaining and it is hoped that there will be more entries for next year. If you have never attended or taken part in the Drama Festival please make it your intention to do so next year and ensure the Festival is a must on your calendar for 2014!
The winners of the Drama Festival 2013 were as follows:
Sketches (Approx 10 minutes duration)
Overall Winner – Nancy Orr Trophy: Newtownbutler
Best Actress – Grace Cup: Bernie Maguire, Newtownbutler
Best Costume – Unetta Burrell Cup: Newtownbutler
Best Producer – Dorothy Robb Salver: Betty McCabe, Lisnaskea
One Act Play (At least 20 minutes, not more than 40 minutes)
First Overall Play – Ulster Cup: Armoy
Second Overall Play – Meg Adams Memorial Trophy: Desertcreat
Best Moment Of Theatre – North West Drama Trophy: Armoy
Best Producer – Robert Smith Trophy: Armoy
Best Overall Actress – Nan Whyte Trophy: Armoy
Best Costume In Festival – Cuthbertson Rose Bowl: Armoy
Other Awards
Novice (Cast which has not won a trophy during the last five years) – Milk Marketing Board Trophy: Newtownbutler
Best Performance Of A Play/Sketch written by a WI member – May Mitchell Trophy: Newtownbutler
Best supporting Actress In Festival – Ivy Pentland Cup: Joan Gray, Muckamore
Best Supporting Actress In A Play Written By A WI Member – Christina McKeown Memorial Cup: Elizabeth Gray, Muckamore
