Write a comment
Newpoint Players have qualified, the third year in a row for the RTE All Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone in May, with their production of Ghetto by Joshua Sobol adapted by Sean Treanor. The team have also qualified for the Ulster Drama Festival also in May at Newtownabbey.
The play is based on the story of the Jews living in the Vilna Ghetto under Nazi occupation during World War II and the play focuses on the Jewish Theatre in the ghetto.
Newpoint took their production around the 2025 festival circuit with Ghetto winning at Newtownstewart, Mid Ulster (Carrickmore) and Portadown Drama Festivals.
It follows their appearances in the 2024 All Ireland final with 'In the Shadow of the Glen (Reimagined)' Sean Treanor after J.M.Synge and the 2023 final with 'Happy Days'
Commenting on qualifying for the All Ireland three years in a row and what it says about their team, Donal O'Hanlon, Newpoint Players said "We never take it for granted. It says that we have the talent to compete with the best, both in terms of acting, but also in production, in costume and lighting and all the singular elements that go towards making a successful drama production."
Ghetto is much more that theatre, documenting as it does the brutality of what has happened in the past but also making the audience think what, if anything has changed in the present. As O'Hanlon points out "Our approach to this play has been the Brechtian approach which is meant to, not necessarily entertain an audience, but to stimulate the audience in ways other than mere enjoyment."
"We discussed long and hard taking a show such as Ghetto on the road and we did think that there might be some sort of reaction from people given the situation in Gaza. Then we saw that there's a massive tour of Fiddler on the Roof planned to go around the UK and it struck us that what's happening today doesn't negate what happened previously, if anything, it goes to show that people can forget very quickly."
He concluded "Ghetto can really represent any extreme example of inhumanity and the characters and nations are potentially transferrable to other conflicts. Drama often needs to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
The All Ireland takes place from 8-16 May in Athlone and O'Hanlon concluded "We know we carry the well wishes of Newry with us, and we will promote the town at every opportunity."
