The 41st prestigious Co. Tipperary Open Drama Festival will take place in the St. Michael’s Community Centre Theatre, in Holycross, Thurles from Friday, March 15th until Saturday March 23rd, commencing at 8:30pm nightly, except for the final night, when prizes will be awarded and starting time will commence at 8:00pm.
Mr Michael Poynor[Association of Drama Adjudicators (ADA)]
The adjudicator for this year’s event will be Mr Michael Poynor[Association of Drama Adjudicators (ADA)] with the inimitable Mr Donal Duggan as Festival Director and Master of Ceremonies, (as he has been for four decades, latter a feat surely deserving of a special award at this year’s festival).
Nine of Ireland’s top drama groups will be on stage for the festival’s duration and they will be bidding for the “Tipperary Star Cup” in the Confined section and the “Tipp FM Trophy” in the open category. Three Co. Tipperary groups will bid for The “Tipperary Star Cup”, namely Holycross Ballycahill DG; Moyne DG, and Rearcross DG.
Holycross Upcoming Festival Programme
Friday, March 15th, (Open)“Dancing at Lughnasa” by Brian Friel. (Holycross/Ballycahill DG).
Saturday March 16th, (Confined)“Stolen Child” by Bairbre Caoimh and Yvonne Quinn. (Moyne Drama Group).
Sunday March 17th, (Confined)”On Raftery’s Hill” by Marina Carr. (Wayside Players).
Monday March 18th, (Open)”The Ferryman” by Jez Butterworth. (Ballyduff DG).
Tuesday March 19th, (Open)”Antigone” by Sophocles and adapted by Don Taylor. (Bride-view DG).
Wednesday March 20th, (Confined)”Same Old Moon“ by Geraldine Aron. (Slieve Aughty DG).
Thursday March 21st, (Confined)”Drama at Inish“ by Lennox Robinson. (Rearcross DG).
Friday March 22nd, (Open)“The Lonesome West” by Martin McDonagh. (Kilmeen DG)
Saturday March 23rd, (Confined) “Now and Then” by Sean Graham and adapted by John Corless (Harvest Moon DG).
(The Festival is held under the auspices of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland ADCI).
Season tickets are €70 and concessions are €12. For further information you may contact Mobile Tel. No. 0862575159
Meet The Adjudicator.
This year’s adjudicator, Mr Michael Poynor, (pictured above) hails from Derry, and holds an impressive curriculum vitae. Born in the Falkland Islands and educated in Argentina and England, he trained for theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (L.A.M.D.A.), London.
He has been Artistic Director for the Lyric Theatre, Belfast; Harrogate Theatre, Yorkshire; Stage ’80 Theatre company, Belfast; Ulster Youth Theatre; The National Youth Theatre Of Wales; and currently Artistic Director at the Ulster Theatre Company. He was Chief Executive of the Millenium Forum, Derry, and Head of Culture and Arts at Queens University, in Belfast.
Mr Poynor is an award winning Director and Lighting Designer having directed over 150 productions, Designed Sets for 120 and Lighting for over 250, as well as Fight Directing for some 100 productions.
He has written a string of burlesque pantomimes including ‘Scrooge’s Christmas‘; ‘Alice!’ (latter a musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s most famous books); a new version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s best known operetta: ‘Rockin’ Mikado‘ which was nominated ‘Best Visiting Production’ in the 1998 Manchester Theatre Awards; ‘Comedy of Errors: The Musical’ (2013) and ‘Jonathan Harker and Dracula’ (2014).
Amongst the many productions he has directed are: The UK provincial premiere of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’; ‘‘Grease’‘; ‘Hello Dolly’, and ‘Once a Catholic’ (at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast); ‘Interview’, and ‘The Bald Prima Donna’ (at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon); ‘Indians’, ‘Schweyk in the Second World War’; ‘What the Butler Saw’, and ‘Noises Off’ (at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast); ‘The Glass Menagerie’; ‘Relatively Speaking’, and ‘The Happiest of the Three’, (at the Overground Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames), ‘Alphabetical Order’; ‘Equus’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, and ‘Candida’, (at Harrogate Theatre); ‘The Snoopy Show’; ‘Hello and Goodbye’; ‘Ashes’; ‘Kelly’s Book’, and ‘Crack-Up’ (for Stage ’80), ‘How the Other Half Loves’; ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, and ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’, (for Theatre Ulster); ‘Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!’; ‘The Mating Season’; ‘The Boyfriend’, and ‘Leave Him to Heaven’, (for the Arts Theatre, Belfast), ‘Oh, What A Lovely War’ and ‘The War of the Worlds’ (for the Ulster Youth Theatre), ‘La Belle Helene’, (for Castle Ward Opera Co.) and ‘West Side Story’, (with the Ulster Orchestra at the Klondike in Belfast for Opera Northern Ireland).
For the Ulster Theatre Company, he directed ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ (1998), (latter a sell-out production for Belfast Festival at Queen’s at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast); ‘West Side Story’; ‘A Chorus Line’; ‘Oklahoma’, and the RSC’s version of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, (all of which toured the UK and Ireland). In 2019 he directed and designed the world premiere of Hennessy Award winner, Sam Burnside’s ‘The Long Now’, (for the Seamus Heaney Home Place Theatre).
Mr Johnny Kenehan, Chairperson of Thurles St Patrick’s Day Parade committee, 2024, reports.
“I am delighted to announce that the Thurles St Patrick’s Day Parade 2024 will take place on Sunday 17th March 2024 at 2:30pm in the town’s Liberty Square area.
This year’s theme is “Youth: Our hopes for the Future”. Our special guest will reflect this theme, same to be announced at a later stage.
Picture shows: (L-R): Michael Cleary, Pat Carey, Johnny Kenehan, Helen Carew (Sponsor Michael’s Jewellers) Rosalie Butler, Jane Ryan, Tommy Mockler, Cllr. Seán Ryan (Cathaoirleach Thurles/Templemore MDC), Garda Chris Verling, Kieran Sheehan, Sharon Scully (District Administrator Thurles/Templemore & Sponsor Tipperary Co. Co.) and Ciarán Callanan, together with this year’s display of trophies and prizes, covering some 12 categories of entry.
The continued success of the parade over the years is based largely on the generous sponsorship of local businesses, groups and Tipperary County Council. The quality of entries and effort by clubs and organisations also ensure this level of success and we look forward to viewing their presentations next month”.
Mr Kenehan continued; “All clubs, organisations, groups, individuals and businesses are invited to enter, and entry forms can be sourced from the Thurles Tourist Office on Slievenamon Road, in the town or simply emailhello@thurlestouristoffice.ie.
We look forward to a variety of entries and a display of local talent and artistic endeavour in their efforts to showcase their own ideas and achievements, while reflecting their interpretation of our youth and our hope for the future”.
Lyrics and Vocals: American singer-songwriter, the late Melanie Anne Safka Schekeryk, professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, who sadly passed away on January 23rd, 2024.
The song, “Peace Will Come”, is a hope that all humans will to come together and embrace understanding in the face of worldwide conflict and adversity. The song addresses the universal longing for harmony and the belief that change is always possible if we attempt to unite as one.
The “please buy one” line, in the lyrics, is understood to refer to bracelets introduced in the late 1960’s, by a now-defunct organization, known as ‘Voices in Vital America’(VIVA), which bore the name of a prisoner of war (POW)or a person reported as missing in action (MIA). The wearer would also be seen as being totally anti-war.
Peace Will Come.
There’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one. There’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one. Well sometimes when I am feeling as big as the land, With the velvet hill in the small of our backs, And our hands are playing the sand. And my feet are swimming in all of the waters, All of the rivers are givers to the ocean, According to plan, according to man. Well sometimes when I am feeling so grand, And I become the world, And the world becomes the man, And my song becomes a part of the river, I cry out to keep me just the way I am, According to plan. According to man, according to plan.
Oh there’s a chance peace will come, in your life, please buy one. But sometimes when we have reached the end With our velvet hill in the small of our backs And our hands are clutching the sand. Will our blood become a part of the river? All of the rivers are givers to the ocean, According to plan, according to man. Oh there’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one. There’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one. There’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one. There’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one. There’s a chance peace will come in your life, please buy one.…
University Concert Hall (UCH) Limerick has announced a series of four springtime Sunday concerts that will fill the Mid-West venue with the sounds of opera arias and the works of some of the world’s greatest composers.
The Limerick Classical Concert Series will commence on Sunday March 3rd with an afternoon concert of operatic delights in association with The Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. Accompanied by Dearbhla Collins and Mairead Hurley and presented by Lyric FM’s Liz Nolan, the varied programme brings together Limerick singers, Mairead Buicke (soprano) and Owen Gilhooly-Miles (baritone), alongside 2022 VDISC winners, Aebh Kelly (mezzo-soprano) and Aaron Godfrey – Mayes (tenor).
University Concert Hall (UCH) Limerick.
The Mid-West’s premier live entertainment and cultural venue will then welcome acclaimed string quintet The Vanbrugh & Friends on Sunday 21st April. Keith Pascoe and Marja Gaynor (violin), Simon Aspell and Ed Creedon (viola) and Christopher Marwood (cello) to perform the works of Boccherini (String Quintet in E major G.402), Beethoven (String Quintet in C minor Op.104) and Dvorak (String Quintet in E flat major Op.97).
University Concert Hall’s classical programme continues with the annual Rising Stars concert showcasing gifted up and coming classical performers on Sunday, April 14th. These will include Alice Abreu (violin), Aimee Banks (Soprano), Declan Murphy (Piano), Megan O’Neill (Soprano) and Mickey Thomas (Piano).
This Spring Concert Series is complemented by a special, family-fun performance on Sunday April 7th. Soo-Jung Ann and Fiachra Garvey on two pianos alongside members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and UCH Panto star Richie Hayes narrating, will bring Saint-Saens much loved ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ to life. A humorous musical suite of fourteen movements including ‘The Swan’, Tortoise and wild donkeys, there will be something for music and animal lovers of all ages.
UCH Director Ms Sinead Hope commented, “We are really excited to present this series of Spring and Sunday afternoon concerts and we look forward to welcoming people from across the Mid-West and beyond in the coming weeks. The Irish classical music scene is thriving, and we are proud to provide a platform for new and established musicians and singers and to continue to promote University Concert Hall’s longstanding artistic ethos”.
2024 marks the 30th anniversary year of UCH which became the first purpose-built concert hall in Ireland when it was opened on the University of Limerick campus. The 1,038-seat auditorium has since attracted performances from some of the biggest names in entertainment including the late Johnny Cash, June Carter, James Taylor, Billy Connolly, Leslie Garrett, Van Morrison, The King’s Singers, Jimmy Carr, Sir James Galway, Christy Moore and the late Sinead O’Connor.
VisitHEREfor ticket details and more information on UCH’s Spring Series of Concerts.
A day to remind us of the importance of love in human relationships.
The Love Of Loving You
Lyrics and Vocals: American folk singer-songwriter Tom Paxton.
The Love Of Loving You
In an unexpected moment I beheld you, I’d never seen your face, I did not know your name, Then you came into my life from out of nowhere, And now absolutely nothing is the same.
Chorus
You are in my heart and in my mind, Now I’ve known your love, I want no other kind, I can feel your powers shining through, And I’m lost in the love of loving you.
It’s so strange the way we live our lives in sorrow, And the way we let the happiness slip by, For our eyes are always fixed upon the morrow, While today is in the corner of our eye.
Repeat Chorus
I was looking for tomorrow when you found me, My heart was anywhere but in today, Now the magic of the moment’s all around me, And I hear the words I always longed to say:
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