Congrats to Dalkey Players who won this year’s Blue Riband Trophy for their performance of “The Crucible”

See our results page for more details

The 52nd Festival opens with a new play by Oisin Flores Sweeney, directed by Geoff Gould and starring Seamus O’Rourke and Joan Sheehy.

On a winter’s night in Westport Tony (Seamus O’Rourke) and Sheila (Joan Sheehy) sit in their wingback chairs sipping wine as the television flickers. After 40 years of marriage they find themselves at a somewhat mundane crossroads in their lives. With their children grown and gone, and their granddaughter a little too often underfoot, they’re left in a hinterland of life, pondering what to do next. The glow from the television offers little comfort or entertainment but between them both Tony and Sheila have plenty to say, even if they don’t always say the things that really matter. Sheila dreams of travel and adventure, or even just a new lawnmower, but Tony’s penny pinching puts a damper on anything with a price tag. Instead, he wants to focus on his new diet; the one that will infamously “start on Monday”. The spark in their love life may have been extinguished over time, but their quick witted interactions are electrifying. And who’s to say that this isn’t the just the beginning of something better for them both.

Edward Hayden is a chef and food writer and is very well-known to audiences from his weekly TV cookery appearances on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM. He also presents a weekly radio show, ‘The Saturday Show with Edward Hayden’, every Saturday morning on KCLR96fm.

Edward works as a lecturer at South East Technological University, where he is course leader of the Higher Certificate in Culinary Arts Programme. He also is the chef and proprietor of The Edward Hayden School of Cookery’ in his native Graignamanagh, which boasts a large selection of recreational cookery classes for both the novice and experience home cook.

Edward has published three cookery books ‘Edward Entertains’, ‘Food to Love’ with O’Brien Press (which was awarded the prestigious Kerry Food Book of the Year) and ‘Food for Friends’ with O’Brien Press. As well as this Edward is Chairperson of the Drama League of Ireland, the group which aims to support, nurture, and enhance the aspirations and activities in the amateur theatre sector, through education, training, advocacy, and advisory services and has been doing so for over 60 years. At local level Edward is a very active member of the New Ross Drama Workshop, a group which has actively competed on the one act festival circuit over the last decade. In his native Graignamanagh Edward is heavily involved with the Duiske Players Drama Group. Also, he has over the years performed with Watergate Productions, New Ross Musical Society, Gowran Little Theatre, Gowran Pantomime Society, Kats Theatre Company & Kilcumney Players.

Thursday 16th March – Curtain up 8pm

Padraig Potts Guide to Walking’ By Seamus O’Rourke
Not in Competition

The 51st Festival opens with the Wonderful Seamus O’Rourke performing his own composition ‘Padraig Potts Guide to Walking’.

The play follows the life of Padraig Potts McKeirnan, who has a habit of just eating whatever is on his plate… metaphorically that is… from growing up near the tiny rural village of Drumnamee, County Leitrim in the ’70s and ’80s to falling in love with Silvia Lang, a perfect protestant girl… to marrying Mary Tague, the priests’ housekeeper, who he never really liked… to getting rid of Mary Tague and her mother, who he claims invented vinegar… and eventually to the realization that the world isn’t as big as he first thought. This is a story full of nostalgia, innocence, Olympic standard sex and Holy Water salad dressing… funny and tender.

As with all Seamus O’Rourke’s plays we expect to be highly entertained.

Season Tickets for the 51th Claremorris Drama and Fringe festival now available from the Town Hall box office: TownHall.ie or phone 094 931 0999

New, unpublished and unperformed 15-minute scripts are sought for the 2023 Claremorris Fringe Festival of Drama, which will be staged next March.

If you have a script that you would like to submit for staging during the festival, please go to fringefestival.ie/enter-the-fringe-festival/.

Claremorris Fringe Festival is part of the 2023 Claremorris Drama Festival.

Visit FringeFestival.ie for full details.

Group Registration for the 2023 Full-Length Festival Circuit

Each Group must register with the National Secretary of the ADCI prior to applying to festivals. Only the official registration form with its registered number may be used.

September 5th 2022 – Groups can commence registration by completing the Google Form.

October 14th 2022 – Secretary will release registration numbers and official application forms to groups.

October 15th 2022 – Groups can apply to festivals from this date.

Full details on the registration process and link to the form on the ADCI website here.

Entries for the Claremorris Drama Festival may be sent to petermccallig@hotmail.com from October 16th