The Tinker’s Wedding wins award in final
THE NEW ROSS Drama Workshop took third place in the All Ireland One Act Drama Finals in Letterkenny recently with its production of The Tinker’s Wedding.
It was the group’s first time ever to qualify for the finals so they were delighted to be placed in the top three.
The John Millington Syne play which was directed by Peggy Hussey starred Martina Kavanagh as Mary Byrne, Seona O’ Connor as Sarah Casey alongside fellow group members Peter Madden as Michael Byrne and Edward Hayden who played the part of the priest.
The group achieved the second highest possible configuration of scores to qualify for the finals.
The Tinker’s Wedding opened the weekend long festival in Letterkenny and as well as coming third there was more celebrations for the group with Seona O’Connor given an adjudicator’s award of a DLI Summer Scholarship. Seona was also nominated as best performer in her category.
In addition to taking third prize in Letterkenny the group picked up a number of awards while on circuit.
Martina Kavanagh picked up the best actress award in Goresbridge, She also collected the award for best actress in Kilmallock. Peggy Hussey won best director and Peter Madden won best actor in Kilmallock with nominations in the best actress/actor category for Seona O’ Connor and Edward Hayden. In Palmerstown Drama Festival Edward Hayden won the award for best actor in the festival with his co star Seona O’ Connor scooping the award for best actress.
The play tells the story of Sarah Casey who is determined to marry Michael Byrne. Despite the scorn of his mother Mary Byrne, Michael is prepared to do the deed and make Sarah an honest woman. A deal is struck with the local priest who agrees to marry them for half the normal fee. But when the priest goes back on his word he feels the wrath of the tinkers.
The set for the play which takes place on the side of the road in around 1909 was designed and constructed by Paul Walsh and Brid Walsh with stage management by Margaret Rossiter and Kate O’Keeffe. Costumes were by Mary Hennelly, makeup by Kitty Warren and lighting by John Caulfield.
A spokesperson for the group said
Peter Madden, Seona O’Connor, Peggy Hussey, Martina Kavanagh and Edward Hayden with their awards. RIGHT: Martina, Peter Madden, Seona and Edward in costume for the play.
they were thrilled by the unexpected win. ‘It was a great experience for us as a group. We had an absolute super weekend in Letterkenny. We didn’t expect to be placed at all because it was our first time in the finals so it was an unexpected bonus and a great reward for all the hard work.’
The group will now take a well deserved Christmas break and will reconvene in the New Year to start work on its spring production which will be directed by Margaret Rossiter.