ICA DRAMA RETURNS TO GLENEALY
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF BECAME CAUGHT UP IN THE EXCITEMENT AS GLENEALY VILLAGE HALL PREPARES TO WELCOME THE ANNUAL ICA DRAMA FESTIVAL. HE SPOKE TO THE FESTIVAL’S ENTHUSIASTIC DIRECTOR HILDA ROCHE
HILDA Roche rejoices in the title of festival director, a role she plots from her bungalow home in the village of Newcastle. The festival which she directs is one of the longest running annual drama events in Ireland, hosted by the Wicklow federation of the Irish Countrywomen’s association. The curtain will go up for the 62nd time at the weekend (January 20-22) for three nights of one act plays and an assortment of sketches. It is set to be a very busy few days for Hilda as, not only will she be making sure that the eleven productions make it on and off stage smoothly. She is also directing the Ashford ICA presentation ‘Who Calls’ which has been in rehearsal since last September and is now ready to entertain Saturday’s crowd in Glenealy Village Hall.
The Dublin native was not around when the festival first hit the boards in an effort to brighten up the often dull fifties. She moved from the capital to County Wicklow only in 1982 and she then found herself widowed a couple of years later. Lonely and grieving, she was not immediately convinced by the friend who suggested she might like to follow her example and join the countrywomen’s organisation in Ashford. It would be all about tea and buns or crafts, was the reaction of the reluctant primary school teacher who had to be coaxed to enlist.
‘I am just not into crafts,’ confesses Hilda, whose ability with needle and thread is lamentable, ‘ but the ICA also does so many other things.’ Most importantly, a veteran of many plays and pantomimes with Stillorgan Players, she discovered that the ICA guild in Ashford had a strong drama group. That was the clincher. She was in. And she has remained very much in ever since, acting, directing or organising.
She was originally encouraged to take full part by Joanne Lenihan who was the guild’s drama specialist at the time, with further guidance from director Tom Broderick. The new girl found herself before the footlights in Glenealy and also at Inch in North Wexford, thoroughly enjoying herself with her new found friends. She was always willing to help and became a valuable assistant to festival director Maureen O’Brien from the Moneystown guild. Eventually she took on the role of director herself in 2013, in time to take charge of the event’s 60th anniversary celebrations which took place in 2015.
The stage has always played a large part in the life of Hilda Roche, now happily re-married to husband Ciarán, who has sometimes been known to pen plays. he began directing the annual production for Ashford in 1999, usually tackling comedies in the years since though this year’s effort is more on the serious side.
‘It is difficult to find plays for all female casts,’ she comments, delighted to have hit on the works of the late David Campton. The English writer, whom she once spoke to on the phone line to his home in the UK, is a big hit with the ICA groups in these parts. The Delgany guild will give an airing in Glenealy to the same playwright’s ‘Cards, Cups and Crystal Ball’ which will be the first production of the 2017 festival.
Hilda has a fondness for the hall, where she and her cast often rehearse when they are not poring over their scripts in someone’s home kitchen or parlour. The venue has room for 100 theatre goers and the stage is good, with a couple of dressing rooms at
THE FESTIVAL IS INCREDIBLY WELL RUN. THERE IS A GREAT ATMOSPHERE IN GLENEALY AND THE HALL IS PACKED OUT EACH NIGHT
the rear, allowing her to squeeze five shows on to the programme for Saturday night. This busiest of evenings will commence with Ashford’s own play followed by four shorter sketches, including a couple from Ballycoog ICA.
‘ The groups which take part are very impressed with the venue,’ says the director who has arranged a full theatrical lighting set-up for the occasion. She, her predecessors and the hard working festival sub-committee have always been willing to take risks and vary the format, allowing sketches on to the programme as well as opening up the festival to non-ICA groups.
She is delighted that some of the entrants have seized on the annual occasion to bring new works before an audience which is at once critical and supportive. Her husband Ciarán wrote for Ashford in the past and this year’s line-up includes new pieces by Brian McKay of Wicklow Active Retired, Tony Deegan of Ballinteer Drama and Carolann Murphy of Wicklow Writers. The Abbey Theatre would be hard pushed to pack so much previously unseen material into their programme for a full year.
The presence of Dublin groups from Ballinteer, Balally and Dalkey, plus Coolgreany from over the border in Wexford underlines the wide appeal of the festival. The longest journey is that facing Amphitheatre Company who hail from far off Clare and are the holders of the trophy for the overall winners.
Director Hilda is all the time mindful of the bedrock of tradition which underlies the Wicklow ICA showpiece. She never met the late Gloria Mulally from the Blessington and Dunganstown guilds, who was to the fore in starting the ball rolling in
1955. The format and the content have varied considerably over the decades since. For a while, Macra na Feirme plays were a considerable part of the mix. The festival, which now runs over three nights, had so many entries in 1987 that eight nights were required. The decision in the nineties to allow non-ICA participation was another milestone, one which has proved very positive for the festival and for the image of the association.
Once the final award for 2017, as decided by adjudicator Garry Lombard, has been presented by ICA national president Marie O’Toole on Sunday night, the comradeship will continue long after the applause has died. Hilda is grateful to an organisation which welcomed her at a time when she might have retreated into her shell.
‘THROUGH the ICA I have met people and done things you would not get to do otherwise,’ she muses, primed to go to Lake Garda with the countrywomen later this year. It is not just her beloved drama of course: ‘Be it crafts, or tai chi or archery classes, there is always fun where you get a group of women together.’ Her group of women on this occasion are the ‘ Who Calls’ cast comprising Una Ryan, Brigid Cahill, Mary Heaslip (who also assembled the Victorian costumes), Claire Timmons, Mary Doyle and Marie Togher.
The Glenealy festival magic certainly works too for the crew from Delgany Dramatic Society, as the group’s Peter Harrison confirms: ‘ The festival means a great deal to us,’ he comments as preparations to bring not one but two sketches to the village hall are finalised. The decision to open up the event to non-ICA groups in recent years has given the Delgany thespians an opportunity they have seized with enthusiasm.
‘It is incredibly well run – Hilda is amazing,’ says Peter. ‘There is a great atmosphere and the hall is packed out each night.’
He feels that, though the various awards are always keenly contested, the friendly spirit has not been compromised by the competitive element.
This year, the dramatic society presents Barry Freaney in the title role of a sketch entitled ‘Henry Hereafter’ on the Saturday night, raising more than a few laughs as it re-unites King Henry the Eighth with his six wives. More serious in tone is the piece written and directed by the versatile Peter Robbie which re-creates a bereavement counselling session under the title ‘ Group Dynamic’.
Meanwhile, Ballycoog ICA secretary Susan Kenny confesses that she simply does not know exactly how long her guild has been participating in the drama festival.
‘Probably thirty or forty years,’ she speculates. ‘We love it. It is hard work but we love it. For a small guild such as Ballycoog, it is a great way of getting together to do something.’ Mary Graham is the Ballycoog producer as they bring two comic sketches this time to a party which demonstrates each year that the ICA is not just about knitting, sewing and the likes. The first piece is called ‘Aldi is Yer Only Man’ which will hit the boards on Saturday night, with ‘The Cleaning Ladies’ to follow later in the evening.
The full schedule for – to give the full title – the Wicklow ICA Federation 62nd drama festival is: Friday, January 20 – Delgany ICA (‘Cards, Cups and Crystal Ball’ play); Wicklow Active Retired (‘When Benji Met Gracie’ sketch); Amphitheatre Company (‘Healing the Dead’ play); Ballinteer Drama (Dawg- Gone Neighbour’ sketch);
Saturday, January 21 – Ashford ICA (‘Who Calls’ play); Ballycoog ICA (Aldi is Yer Only Man’ sketch); Wicklow Writers (‘Are You There John?’ sketch); Delgany Dramatic (Henry Hereafter’ play); Ballycoog ICA (‘ The Cleaning Ladies’ sketch);
Sunday, January 22 – Coolgreany Drama (‘ Trifles’ play); Delgany Dramatic (‘Group Dynamic’ sketch); St Patrick’s DS (‘ The Hero in His Kitchen’ sketch); Balally Players (The Nightingale and Not the Lark’ play).
The curtain-up is 7.30 p.m. sharp each night.