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Athlone, Here I Come!
25.04.10
by Damian Dowds, Inishowen Independent
A LOCAL actor will be hoping to break a leg over the
May Bank Holiday weekend as he takes part in the
prestigious All-Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone.
Seamus McDaid, a familiar figure to patrons of
Topline Fashions, Buncrana, will be performing in
the Lifford Players’ adaptation of Brian Friel’s
1964 play Philadelphia, Here I Come! on Monday, May
3.
The amiable Buncrana man, a regular performer in the
town’s annual pantomime, plays the character Tom,
and local people will get the chance to see Seamus
and the cast perform their final show, before the
All-Ireland, when they take to the stage in Scoil
Mhuire on Friday, April 30. |
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“We’ve been playing to
packed houses all over the place, from Leitrim to
Belfast, and have been shortlisted as one of just
nine groups to make the national finals,” said
Seamus. “It’s a really tremendous show, and we’ve
been getting great praise for the quality of the
production. And I’m delighted that people in
Inishowen will get the chance to see a top class
show when we appear in Scoil Mhuire on Friday week.”
Penned by Greencastle-based playwright Brian Friel,
Philadelphia, |
Here I Come! is set in
the fictional village of Ballybeg the night before
the main character, Gar O’Donnell, emigrates to
America. The play, which has been on the Leaving
Certificate curriculum for many years, contemplates
the uncommunicative relationship between Gar and his
father SB. Gar’s character is played by two actors,
one the public Gar and the other his private inner
self.
“That a play like this could have been written in
Donegal in the 1960s is amazing,” McDaid says. “It’s
so full of emotion and tension and fun. It has been
a huge commitment to be involved in it, and the
Lifford players have prepared for the All-Ireland
like professionals.”
The Lifford Players are no strangers to the
All-Ireland Drama Festival and this year make their
27th appearance at the event. They have won the
title three times, most recently with another Friel
play, Translations, in 1987.
Last Monday night they played in front of an
ecstatic crowd at the Ulster Drama Festival finals
in Newtownabbey. The winners of that competition
won’t be known until Saturday, but McDaid’s eyes are
firmly on Athlone and a shot at All-Ireland glory.
* Philadelphia, Here I Come! will be staged in Scoil
Mhuire, Buncrana, on Friday, April 30. Tickets are
available from Patricia Tinney 9362535 or 087
6482182, from Seamus McDaid at Topline, or can be
bought on the door on the night. The play starts at
8pm sharp. |
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