The annual Newtownabbey Drama Festival returns to The Courtyard Theatre from Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 March. Offering five nights of full-length plays, from the best amateur dramatic groups from Northern Ireland and beyond.
Kick-starting the festival on Tuesday 13 March Newpoint Players present Seduction and Murder at the Red Barn. This is a new version of the play. It’s a farce. The style is Victorian melodrama with some music and dance. It draws upon the story of the Red Barn murder of Mariah Marten at Polested in 1829.
On Wednesday 14 March Rosemary Drama Group present Pride’s Crossing. 90-year-old Mabel is a passionate woman, preparing to throw a Fourth of July party for her granddaughter Minty Renoir. Present events call to Mabel’s mind memories of her life, and through these memories we glimpse her wit, resilience, youthful spunk and geriatric wilfulness. We see her as a young girl preparing to swim the English Channel.
The Clarence Players present John Gabriel Borkman on Thursday 15 March (Contains strong language and adult material) John Borkman has been in solitary seclusion in an upstairs room in his drab mansion since enduring a prison sentence for embezzlement. Still blindly hoping his career will be reignited, only his clerk Fodal, an aspiring poet, remained loyal to him throughout the years. Unhappily married to Gunhild, she is surprised when her twin sister Ella arrives. Having been tossed aside by Borkman in favour of her twin, Ella was left to raise their only child, Earhart. Now that he is grown up and in love with an older woman, the sisters become locked in a desperate spiritual battle over his future. As Borkman rages against the confines of his claustrophobic household, he ventures out into the snowy hills where he finally learns the true consequences of love betrayal.
Friday 16 March sees local group Theatre 3 Newtownabbey present Quartet. Cecily, Reginald and Wilfred are in a home for retired opera singers and musicians. Each year, on the 10 October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing in the gala, but, the show must go on.
Rounding off the festival on Saturday 17 March, Slemish Players present Say Cheese. Bridie and Val have won a competition organised by the Celtic Cheese Company. They have gained the crown of Ireland’s Happiest Couple. The prize is an enactment of their original wedding 30 years earlier. Will their new title hold fast for the day? Watch as the drama unfolds and the hilarity begins on this biggest of days.
Shows 8pm Tuesday – Friday and Saturday 7.30pm Tickets available from only £7, contact Box Office T: 028 9034 0202 or online thecourtyardtheatre.com