Newpoint Players qualify for All Ireland Final

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: Columba O'Hare; Category: Arts, TV and Entertainment; Published: 11 March 2024

The Newpoint production of In the Shadow of the Glen: Reimagined'.Photograph: Columba O'Hare/ Newry.ie

Newpoint Players have qualified for the Open All Ireland Finals for their ambitious production of 'In the Shadow of the Glen: Reimagined' by Sean Treanor (after J.M. Synge).

To date this month Newpoint have travelled to Enniskillen, Tobercurry, Ballymoney and Castleblaney with the production taking three wins from the four festivals. They came out top at Western Drama Festival, Tobercurry, Castleblaney Drama Festival and Ballymoney Drama Festival. Just the costumes alone make this production a must-see.

'In the Shadow of the Glen: Reimagined'.Photograph: Columba O'Hare/ Newry.ie

The Newpoint team also amassed a plethora of awards from the festivals. Tom Carvill took three Best Set / Decor awards; Pauline Lynch took 2 Best Actress awards; Mickey Brannigan took 2 Best Actor awards and a Best Supporting Actor awards; Frances Morgan achieved 2 awards for Best Supporting Actress; Lowry Hodgett got an award for Best Supporting Actor; Alison Rodgers and Bernie McParland won a Special Award for Costume and Masks; Declan McConaghy took an award for Best Lighting and the production also took 3 awards for the Most Imaginative/ Ambitious Production, as well as a Best Irish Dialect Award.

The play written by J.M. Synge tells the story of an unfaithful wife Nora, married to an aged man Dan Burke. The story follows how the husband tricks his wife into revealing her true feelings and her ambitions for when she will be a widow. In this reimagined version, Sean Treanor explores these themes of earthy, ‘animal passions’ and the turbulent underbelly of life and nature, which can be detected in the subtext of Synge’s original and in Synge’s better known play, 'The Playboy of the Western World'.

Newpoint have three more festivals to attend at Carrickmore, Newtownabbey and Newry. Make sure you get a ticket early for the Newry Drama Festival production on Thursday 21 March at Newry Town Hall. You can get tickets at www.gr8events.ie

The 2024 All Ireland takes place from 2-10 May 2024 in Athlone with the awards presented on 11 May.