Adjudicator: Tom Doherty

Our adjudicator One of Ireland's best-known Drama Tutors and Adjudicators Tom has gained wide-ranging experience of the festival circuit over the last 35 years. He has adjudicated the Dundalk International Festival; the Scottish, Northern Ireland and All-Ireland One-Act Finals; the British Finals; and the All Ireland Confined Final. He adjudicated the All-Ireland Finals in Athlone in 2010. He has led workshops and training sessions for Drama Groups and teachers all over Ireland and is by some distance the longest serving tutor at the Gormanston Summer School having been a regular there for the last 23 years.

Sunday 26TH March Sliabh Aughty “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay Abaire Becca and Howie Corbett are struggling to cope with the loss of their four year old son Danny. The presence of Beccas wayward sister Izzy and none too tactful mother Nat brings a touch of light relief to a painful and poignant story and it isn’t until Becca meets with Jason, the teenage driver of the car that killed Danny, himself troubled by the accident, that she begins to find solace.

Saturday 25th March Corofin Dramatic Society “The Cripple of Inishmaan” by Martin McDonagh Set on Inishmaan in 1934, The Cripple of Inishmann, is a strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. As word arrives on Inishmann that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island of Innishmore to film “Man of Aran” the only person who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young cripple Billy. If only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life

Saturday 25th March Corofin Dramatic Society “The Cripple of Inishmaan” by Martin McDonagh Set on Inishmaan in 1934, The Cripple of Inishmann, is a strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. As word arrives on Inishmann that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island of Innishmore to film “Man of Aran” the only person who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young cripple Billy. If only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life.

Friday 24th March Phoenix Players Tubbercurry It is about a bicycle? Is it about heaven? Is it about Hell? Is it about God? Is it about Death? In Flann O’Briens hilarious curious play “The Third Policeman”, we meet dead man walking however this will not be the strangest encounter you will have over the course of this evening. In this play you will hear of people who can see the colour of the wind see bicycle’s that are half people and among others things watch and elevator descend to eternity so with an open mind and an attuned ear suspend your disbelief and ENJOY.

Thursday 23rd March “Dead Mans Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl Dalkey players Jean (approaching 40, an employee at the Holocaust museum) is innocently sitting at a cafe when a mans cell phone rings. And rings. And keeps on ringing. The man doesn’t answer because as the title suggests, he’s dead. Jean however does pick up, and when she discovers that the cell phone owner has died quietly in the café, she not only dials 911, she keeps the phone in order to keep him alive in a strange yet significant way. She takes messages from the dead mans business associates, friends, family members, even his mistress. Whimsical, wistful and absurd, Dead Mans Cell Phone brings us to a fantasy that is both funny and though provoking.

Wednesday 22nd March Shercock Players “The Trappe Family” by Seamus ORourke Sylvester Trappe fell off his garage roof five years ago and died. Every year since then his wife drags her three sons and one daughter up to the same rooftop to commemorate his death and some of his life. The play is about a family in the northwest of Ireland on a rooftop in 2007 looking out over the town and themselves. So much has changed, so much has not.

Tuesday 21th March Bailieborough Drama Group “The Tide” by Tara Marie Lovett The Tide is a darkly comic tale about the journey taken by two unlikely strangers who meet on Tullaghan stand. Daisy is s middle aged woman and JC a young man. Both of them dream of a different life, one of freedom, the other passion. Who knows how far one will go for a dream. Daisy and JC on an adventure together, by the time the tide has turned they both have found what they are looking for.

Monday 20th March Corn Mill Theatre “Philadelphia, here I come” Philadelphia here I come is a 1964 play written by Brian Friel. It is set in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It centres around Garet (Gar) ODonnells proposed move to America. Gar is portrayed by two characters, Gar public (the Gar that people see, talk to and talk about) and Gar private (the unseen man, the man within, the conscience). It’s essentially about exile of emigration, the exile of emotional disconnect, the exile of choosing security over love and the exile of living fantasy rather than reality. The play is a tragic comedy with many comical scenes.

Sunday 19TH March “The Real Thing” Ballyshannon Drama Society Henry is a successful playwright married to Charlotte who has the lead role in his latest play about adultery. Her co-star Max, is married to another actress, Annie. Annie and Henry are madly in love but is it any more real than the subject of Henrys play? Leaving their respective partners Henry and Annie set up house together. Annie has espoused the cause of Brodie, a young soldier jailed for violence at a peace demonstration, but when she asks the gifted Henry to work on Brodies crassly written auto biographical play his precise literary principals are appalled and he refuses. Annie driftes away from Henry and into another affair with another younger actor. After much anguish and out of love for Annie, Henry ghost writes Brodies script. It seems they have at last found the real thing.

Saturday 18th March "The Odd Couple" DADS If the slovenly condition of Oscar Madisons apartment is anything to go by, it is no wonder that his wife has divorced him. When his fastidious friend Felix Ungar arrives with nowhere to go, having separated and trying to hold himself together, Oscar offers to help by inviting him to move in. With their new living arrangement, Oscar and Felixs idiosyncrasies come to the fore and relationships are tested to breaking point.