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Lislea Drama Festival have announced a new initiative to promote and develop drama in South Armagh.
The Festival committee have now established, what will be, an annual Drama camp each summer for 13 to 18 year olds , starting this year on 15th August. This has been made possible by a generous gift from the late Patrick Francis Hannaway whose family hailed from Lislea, so the Summer camp is named after and dedicated to Patrick.
Patrick had visited Lislea on many occasions and had appreciated the long rich history of drama in Lislea and he wished to make a contribution to see it continue and grow.
Patrick was himself a fine actor working in London for many years and at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow where he performed in 84 roles. There he worked alongside actors Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman, Rubert Everett and Mark Rylance. His work included many films such as ‘A Bridge too Far’ 1974,The Happy Prince 2018, and in television; ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Taggart’ and ‘Inspector Morse’ to name but a few. He was also a great music fan with a particular love for Jazz. Patrick loved the promotion of drama and encouraging young people to learn the skills of an actor with a view to a professional career or to just simply build confidence.
The Camp at Lislea this year will be delivered by ‘The Rainbow Factory’ from YouthactionNI based in Belfast, under the guidance of their Artistic Director, Maire Campbell. The course will run for a week between the hours of mainly 10.30 and 3.30. Subjects covered will be acting, movement, stage technique, script writing, to name but a few. Maire is also an actor and movie maker, with award winning films such as ‘Grace and Goliath’, A Christmas Star’ both of which have premiered I London, New York, Los Angelas, and included many of Irelands elite actors.
While the camp is filling fast with locals there are still a few places for this year’s camp. The fee is £30 per young person and this includes a tee shirt and trip to the Rainbow Factory’s studio in Belfast. To register an interest please message Cathal on 07966392766. Registration will be this Thursday 11th August at 7pm.
