Balally Players

 

Sense & Sensibility – 29 Oct to 2 Nov 2024

dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum

'Sense and Sensibility' is considered to be one of Jane Austen's best novels. This adaptation for the stage by Kate Hamill took the story and mined it for all the wit and humour it contains. Brian Molloy's direction presented it in a format that kept audiences engaged with many a smile and laugh and with equal measures of sense and sensibility.

Read more about the show on the What's On page.

 

Remembering Joe McPartlin

(1952 — 2024)

Dr Joe McPartlin, a former member of Sandyford Little Theatre and one of the founding Directors of the Mill Theatre, died on 3 October 2024, peacefully in the care of the staff at Our Lady’s Hospice. As we remember with great fondness and appreciation Joe’s work in support of our local theatre groups, we offer our condolences to his family and all his many friends

Karen Carleton remembers all that Joe did, over twenty years ago, to help bring the Mill Theatre to life.

"In 1999, Chartered Land posted a notice about their intention to build a new town centre in Dundrum. Joe McPartlin and Michael Doyle from Sandyford Little Theatre and JD Byrne and myself from Balally Players asked to meet, with the hope that a performance space for the cultural life of Dundrum be provided for the community. More meetings with Joe Reilly and his team over the year followed – but there were other proposals too, a swimming pool and sports arena. It was 2001 before we saw an actual plan for a performance space.

It wasn't quite what we had in mind so over the next number of years, Joe researched every small theatre in the British Isles. He brought all this to the board room and when I was hot under the collar over plastic seating and linoleum floors, Joe's interpersonal skills, his affability, his experience in negotiations, his status as Director of the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute and his leadership meant that over the months and years, plans changed and a theatre was born. Standing in his hi-viz vest and hard hat in the crater that was Building 13, Joe was a very happy man in 2005. We were 3 million over budget.

In early 2006, Joe Reilly, his Chartered Land team and Castlethorn Construction handed over to the community a beautiful, key ready, fully fitted out theatre, at cost of 10 million euro. It is hard to describe how we and the whole community felt.

Joe, in his recent illness, reminisced with Michael over his early times in Sandyford Little Theatre and with me over those years 2005-2006. Glory Days, he called them. “Glory Days. Yeah, they'll pass you by – Glory Days – in the wink of a young girl's eye.”

You made a difference Joe. Thank you."

 

Two One-Act Plays – 15 to 19 October 2024

dlr Mill Theatre Studio, Dundrum

Balally Players presented two One Act plays each evening in the Maureen O'Hara Studio for five nights from 15 to 19 October 2024.

'Willow' is set in a small seaside town in the west of Ireland. It's a tale of love, loss and longing. The action takes place in one day during 2019. It's a new play written by Irish writer Catherine McKiernan and this production is directed by Joanne Keane. The cast members are Sean Ahern, Sinead Donovan, Muriel Caslin O'Hagan, and Peter Flood.

'Guess Who's Coming For Coffee' was written by Graham Donlon and is directed by Aisling Ní Fhoghlú. Finding love can be tricky in 2024, for people of all ages. 'Guess Who's Coming For Coffee', set in a small Dublin café, explores the trials and tribulations that come with the exciting (and exacting) world of online dating. The cast members are Una Twyford, Barry O'Connor, Aoibhín Ní Ghabhann, and Shane Griffin.

 

Shakespeare in the Park – June 2024

St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham & Killruddery Gardens, Bray

Balally Players brought this play to life in two glorious outdoor settings this midsummer. The final shows this year were on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 June 2024 at 8pm in the Sylvan Theatre in the grounds of Killruddery House, Bray, County Wicklow.

Earlier in June, on four evenings between Wednesday 12 and Saturday 15 June 2024 at 7:30pm, the play was performed in the Walled Gardens of St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham. The play was directed by Gerard Bourke, assisted by Joanne Keane.

Read more about these shows on the What's On page.

 

'Balally Shorts' – an evening of four treats

dlr Mill Theatre Studio 17 to 20 April 2024

In 'Balally Shorts', Balally Players presented a selection of four very different short plays; a mixture of drama and comedy. Two of the plays were by American playwrights and two were by Irish playwrights. The performances were from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 April 2024.

It was exciting to have the world premiere of 'Handbag' by Tom Byrne - who is well known on the drama circuit as director, adjudicator and more recently - writer! Tom had just won the Claremorris Fringe Playwriting Competition 2024 with 'Handbag', which was directed for us by Tom's son Philip.

For more, including a link to photos taken during rehearsal, see the What's On page.

 

'Alone It Stands'

dlr Mill Theatre & Festival Circuit to end of March 2024

It's 31 October 1978, Thomond Park, Limerick. The mighty New Zealand All Blacks, on an Irish tour, take on the none-too-mighty Munster team - and they lose 12-0 to the pleasantly surprised Irish supporters – and a shocked sporting world!

From this piece of Irish sporting history, John Breen has fashioned a funny lively play in which both teams, plus fans, children, relatives and even a dog are portrayed by a cast of six, with no props and only a half time change of shirt.

Directed by Óran O'Rua and featuring a very talented cast, Alone It Stands brought a smile to your face in dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum from 14 to 17 February 2024.

This thrilling comedy was a great evening out for rugby fans of all ages.

'Alone It Stands' took to the road for a series of performances as part of our 2024 Festival Circuit run.

• 25 February - Kilmuckridge
• 8 March - Strabane
• 11 March - Newtownabbey
• 15 March - Claregalway
• 16 March - Ballyshannon
• 18 March - Newry
• 21 March - New Ross
• 23 March - Carnew

See the What's On page for more about the play and also this article about the production by Pat McCarry in Joe.ie/News.

 

'Juggernaut' by David Sears

Decade of Centenaries project – returned in February 2024

In this ninety-minute retelling of a play first staged to great acclaim by MacLiamoir and Edwards in the Gate Theatre in 1929, David Sears sets the action in Killiney during the War of Independence and centres it around a middle-class family whose immunity from the struggle is shattered by the arrival of a wounded gunman looking for refuge.

A rehearsed reading of this play was presented in dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin on Saturday 18 November at 7:30pm and the final rehearsed reading was in the Pearse Museum, Rathfarnham on Saturday 25 November 2023.

Juggernaut returned for three nights at the Lexicon in Dun Laoghaire on 8, 9 & 10 February 2024, for a fully staged performance.

The director, Conall Morrison, has directed extensively with the Gate Theatre, Abbey Theatre, and with productions in Ireland and abroad. As part of the rehearsal process, Conall invites any members who would like to attend to come along and watch the rehearsal process across the month of January. For anyone who is interested, rehearsal will be taking place on Saturdays, from 10am-4pm in the Halla Mór, at the Pearse Museum from 6 January 2024.

The first rehearsed reading was also in the Pearse Museum on Saturday 30 September. This Balally Players presentation is part of the series of events that have contributed to the Decade of Centenaries. The play by David Sears was written in 1928, just five years after the end of the Irish civil war, and was first produced in 1929 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir in the Peacock Theatre.

The rehearsed reading was also be presented in dlr Mill Theatre Studio on Friday 6 and Saturday 6 October.

The play is about a middle-class family whose moderate Home Rule sympathies are put to the test when they have to choose between aiding or turning in a wounded IRA soldier. The family is persuaded to hide the IRA man and then to let him escape, although his survival means death for the daughter's British officer fiancé. The writer, David Sears, was one of Patrick Pearse's pupils at St Enda's and was a veteran of both the 1916 Easter Rising and the War of Independence (1922-1923). Sears won the gold medal for English language drama at the 1928 Tailteann Games with this play, a tragedy that disrupts the life of the family at its centre, and explores the interplay and conflicts within a complex set of loyalties and values.

The project is supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative.

See the What's On for more about the background to the project.

 

 

'Dead Man's Bells' wins in Wicklow

Best Director, Best Play & 2 Adjudicator's Awards

At the Wicklow ICA Drama Festival in the Glenealy Village Hall on Saturday 20 January 2024, Adjudicator Alan Howley (ADA), presented the Balally Players production of 'Dead Man's Bells' with the following awards:

• Best director: Joanne Keane
• Best play: 'Dead Man's Bells' by Méabh de Brún
• Adjudicator's Award for Acting: Mary Carroll
• Adjudicator's Award for Best Moment of Theatre: Murder Scene - Lighting and Sound Team: Kris Mooney, Paul Macken, Liam Borgstrom, Una Twyford, Paul Delany, Barbara Andrews.

See more on the page for the play, in the Productions section.

 

 

Dundrum One Act Festival 2023

The Dundrum One Act Drama Festival returned to the dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum, Dublin from Thursday to Saturday, 2 to 4 November 2023.

Three nights of superb live entertainment hosted by Balally Players.

Organised by Festival Director, Joanne Keane, with Jean Monahan and Karen Carleton.

Drama groups from across the country competed over the three nights of the festival. Each night the Festival Adjudicator Michael McCabe ADA reviewed the plays and announced the winners on the final night.

The Dundrum One Act Drama Festival is part of the All Ireland One Act Drama circuit. The winners from local festivals aim to qualify for the All Ireland Final in Castleblayney during December 2023.

See the Dundrum Festival page, in the What's On section, for more information, including a list of the plays that will be performed.

 

Summer Shakespeare

Outdoor performances in June and July 2023

This year's Shakespeare in the Park was The Taming of the Shrew and was presented in St Enda's Park, Rathfarnhamn and the Sylvan Theatre in the grounds of Killruddery House, Co. Wicklow.

The action hovers around the story of Katherine and Petruchio and reflects a topic openly and regularly talked about in Shakespeare's day - the nature and role of women. Four hundred years later, the topic lives on and continues to entertain audiences in this much-loved play.

The first shows were presented in St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin, on Sun 25, Tue 27, Thur 29 and Fri 30 June.

The performances in Kilruddery House, Sylvan Theatre, County Wicklow were on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 July, and they started at 8 pm.

 

40th Anniversary Production

dlr Mill Theatre – 7 to 11 February 2023

During February, in its 40th year, Balally Players opened its 2023 programme with a special Anniversary production of 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane' by Martin McDonagh.

Prior to his success with 'In Bruges' and the 'Banshees of Inisherin', this was McDonagh's debut play, the work that launched his career and electrified audiences. It introduced the world to McDonagh's darkly comic style, at times hilarious, at times vicious.

First produced by the Druid Theatre Company in 1996 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane' tells the story of spinster Maureen Folan, trapped in a dysfunctional relationship with her scheming and manipulative mother Mags, in a rundown cottage in the wilds of Connemara. Will Maureen's last chance at love have a happy ending? Not if Mags can help it.

With 'Banshees of Inisherin' hotly tipped for Oscar glory, Mill audiences had the opportunity to experience McDonagh's black humour in the flesh.

See the What's On page for more information.

 

 

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