Past Productions

2008/2009 – Pretend Sick

When the Group first came together in September 2008 the general feeling was that putting on a Comedy would be the best way to get started and the best way to attract in the public. Our first production “Pretend Sick”, written by Mayo man Michael J. Ginnelly, went into rehearsal in Oct 2008 and was produced in Parke Community Centre in March 2009 to, thankfully, full houses and much, much laughter. We were very lucky to have the experience of Dermot MacMahon, as Director, to guide us through rehearsals. Local ladies Kate Boyle and Breda Morris took to their roles as producers with great aplomb. And so it was that we took to the stage on St. Patrick’s weekend 2009 to packed houses each night.

2009/2010 – A Wake in The West

Spurred on by the success of 2009 we again decided on another Comedy by Michael J. Ginnelly, the much acclaimed “A Wake in The West”. Again Dermot MacMahon was at the helm, this time assisted by Vincent McHale. Breda and Kate surpassed themselves in the production stakes and there was a number of new additions to the Cast and Crew for 2010. The show took to the stage for the last weekend of February, running for 4 nights to packed houses each night.

2010/2011 – Cupid Wore Skirts

Vincent McHale took the reigns as Director for the 2011 production, assisted by Mary Mahon. After reading a number of scripts during the summer of 2010 the Group finally settled on Sam Cree’s 3 Act Comedy ‘Cupid Wore Skirts’. And so rehearsals began in September 2010 and by the end of that month the Cast was in place following some intense consideration by the Director. The Group welcomed two stage debutants in the form of Sharon Cameron and Trina Healy. Despite rehearsals being hampered by bad weather conditions in Dec/Jan the Cast were ready to take to the stage on March 3rd for a sell out four-night run. Apart from the tremendous local support there were many from further afield including a number of people from other Drama Groups in Mayo, some of whom had performed the play themselves previously. The reviews from all audiences were superb and credit must go to all the cast and crew who worked tirelessly to ensure everything went like clockwork.

2011/2012 – Fortunes & Misfortunes

Vincent McHale returned as Director for 2012/2013 with Breda Morris as Assistant Director and Producer. After much searching the Group happened upon the works of Westmeath Playwright Jimmy Keary who had a number of one act and three act comedies to his name. The group read a number of his 3 act comedies and decided on Fortunes & Misfortunes as the production for 2012.

Once again there was a great turnout for rehearsals and once again we were blessed with a couple of newcomers in the guise of Richard Wynne who took on the roll of the dancing priest and Pauline Barrett who portrayed Oonagh Delaney, a wannabe socialite and writer.

The production took to the stage for a 4 night run – March 1st – 4th – in Parke Community Centre. The production was very well received locally with packed houses each night. The playwright himself also managed to attend and was suitably impressed by the production of his work. The group was also delighted to be asked to bring the production to the Royal Theatre Stage in Castlebar for 3 nights in July 2012. This was a great opportunity for cast and crew to experience the larger stage and auditorium. Brid Quinn directed the 3 night run in Castlebar and Ethan Jordan replaced Daniel Donnelly as ‘Nathan Fortune’.

2012/2013 – The Maiden Aunt

September 2012 saw a change at the helm with Michael Rice taking over as Director. Michael has much experience in directing pantomime and musucal theatre but was not as experience when it came to more mainstream drama but he soon settled to the task at hand. The new production also saw a bit of a shake up in the backstage team with Mary Mahon, Ann Donnelly and Marion Daly taking on the production roles and Vincent McHale taking over as Stage Manager. There was also a number of changes at committee level with Richard Wynne coming in as Chairman, Ann Connor as Treasurer and Emily Connor as PRO, with Joanne Dean staying on as Secretary.