DRAMA AT FESTIVAL AS RUSSIAN ACTORS FAIL TO TAKE STAGE
SIBERIAN GROUP LEFT STRANDED IN MOSCOW BUT MAYTIME EXTRAVAGANZA ANOTHER SUCCESS
GOOD weather, a variety of events, and missing Russian actors, all combine to make a very successful, if not headache-free, 26th Dundalk International Maytime Festival.
The organising committee is delighted with the life and vigour the festival brings to the town over two weeks.
There is indeed drama at the Dundalk Drama International which concludes in the town hall on 3 June with the last of nine plays.
A group from Kemerovo, a city in south-west Siberia, fails to arrive at Shannon airport.
However, at very short notice the Dublin Shakespeare Society brings its excellent production of ‘Conversation on a Homecoming’.
This is in itself a major coup because the society does not normally compete at festivals.
Producer Pat Burke says he is very pleased with the invitation, and is wholesome in his praise for Joe Hardy and the set-building team.
On the final night, England-based Hugh Lovegrove, president of the International Amateur Drama Association, says the Dundalk festival is known and talked about all over the world.
Before announcing the awards, adjudicator Alan Nicol from Scotland points out the standard is extremely high.
The overall award goes to Backstage Theatre Group, Longford and their production of Tom Murphy’s ‘A Whistle in the Dark’.
Producer Mick Reilly speaks of being thrilled on being asked to perform as Dundalk is the only festival in the country where groups cannot apply for a place.
‘ To win is way beyond our dreams. We enjoyed playing here and making new friends. Winning has been a bonus,’ he declares.
The Owen Darcy audience award is also taken by ‘A Whistle in the Dark’.
The accolades don’t stop there as the midlanders also win the Harp Lager premier award, best producer and best actor (Declan Neville for his portrayal of ‘Harry’).
On the mystery of the missing Siberians, festival president Carmel Mackin explains: ‘ The problem was that they had to have their visas stamped twice and when they arrived at the airport in Moscow, this hadn’t been done, so they were refused a permit to leave the country.’
Meanwhile, a coach driver was waiting patiently at Shannon while the actors were stranded in Moscow.
‘We are naturally very disappointed, but things work out alright in the end.’
Overall, the president says the activities are all very well attended.
This year, the emphasis was placed on the great outdoors, and two concerts staged at the Market Square are especially popular with young people.
Numbers attending the various festival events are up on twelve months ago.
‘We are particularly lucky with the weather,’ Carmel adds.
Festival queen Ann Marie Downes has a busy time of it after being selected in the Derryhale Hotel. During a packed programme, the air hostess from Balbriggan fits in visits to local schools.
‘It is a nice surprise to win and I’m enjoying it,’ she says.
Niamh Mulholland from Ravensdale is the Junior Miss Maytime Festival.