Successful staging by Irish amateur theatre group
THERE is no divide between the people involved in Kilmeen Drama Group in the village of Rossmore in West Cork and local supporters of the GAA, says Donie Walsh. He is directing a production of Death and the Maiden for one of the country’s longest running amateur drama societies.
“You’ll see the same people going to an opening at St Mary’s Theatre in Rossmore as you’ll see the next day at a GAA match,” he says.
However, Walsh, who has been involved with Kilmeen Drama Group since 1993, is dedicated to theatre in his free time and admits he has no interest in the GAA.
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His mother, who acted with the Ardfield Dramatic Society in West Cork, introduced her son to theatre and it has proved to be a fulfilling hobby which has taken him all over the country and even to the US, with acclaimed productions.
Kilmeen Drama Group is thought to have started in 1946 when a Rossmore-based priest, Fr Barry, directed a play called Still Running
. While St Mary’s Hall wasn’t built until 1948, a group of locals under the direction of the parish priest of Rossmore, Fr James O’Donovan, used to regularly produce sketches and dramas.
Up until 1948, there was no electricity in the village, but Fr O’Donovan had a generator in his house which he extended to an adjoining shed. It was there that the group met for rehearsals.
From inauspicious beginnings, Kilmeen Drama Group has gone on to win the coveted All-Ireland Drama Competition four times since 2006. Walsh, whose day job is as the deputy manager of the West Cork Model Railway Village, says Kilmeen Drama Group was originally set up to give locals a past-time.
“Back in the 1940s and 1950s, a huge amount of amateur drama groups, like Kilmeen, were established during Lent because there was nothing else to do. Out of that came the West Cork Drama Festival, which started in 1961. The idea behind KIlmeen was to bring people together for socialising. And that led on to competing on the festival circuit.”
St Mary’s Theatre was a regular community hall, but a combination of hard work and goodwill have seen it transformed into a state-of-the-art theatre. “It holds approximately 300 people; it has full dressingroom facilities, a full lighting rig and a sound box,” explains Walsh.
“We have a floating stage which can be raised or lowered, depending on what’s on. There are regular events at St Mary’s apart from plays, such as old folks’ parties and ICA meetings.”
There are over 70 people involved in Kilmeen Drama Group. “They come from surrounding areas such as Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bandon and Dunmanway. We encompass all of West Cork and some members live and work in Cork and still travel to Rossmore for rehearsals, making the two-hour journey.”
Members of the Kilmeen Drama Group include everyone from amateur actors and directors to box office volunteers and the people who put up posters. The group plays an important role in the community. “As soon as a person can walk and talk, they’re brought to St Mary’s, where they’re given some sort of job. There’s a huge mix of people involved.”
Key people include the chairman of Kilmeen Drama Group, Michael O’Mahony; secretary Denis O’Sullivan, PRO Ian Flavin and the education and development officer, Nora Scannell. “Nora is involved in workshops and drama classes based in the hall, to promote drama among young people interested in it.”
In a given year, Kilmeen Drama Group produces a minimum of three plays. “There’s always a play that runs in July and August. This summer’s one is already in production. It’s Widow’s Paradise [by Sam Cree]. We do a one-act play for the competitive one-act circuit in November and we put on a three-act play in March. The Three-Act Open Drama Finals in Athlone is the Holy Grail. The top nine groups in the country qualify for Athlone.”
Kilmeen Drama Group’s visit last October to New York and Lancaster in Pennsylvania with its production of The Playboy of the Western World (which won the 2013 Abbey Award at the RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival) came about through happenstance.
Kilmeen Drama Group’s chairman and his wife were visiting their son, Kevin, who works in Lancaster. Kevin introduced his parents to his boss, Joe Devoy, who is originally from Waterford, is in the building business and owns a music pub in Lancaster.
“They had dinner one night. Michael mentioned that he was part of a drama group back in Ireland. Joe said casually that they should come to the US some time with a play. That was grand. Nothing more was said about it until at a drama group meeting in Rossmore, somebody mentioned that it would be great to tour a play.
“We had just won the All-Ireland with the Playboy. Michael O’Mahony said there was an invitation to go to America. A phonecall was made to Joe Devoy and it started from there. We did two shows in the Nagelberg Theatre in Baruch College in New York and we played in Lancaster.
“We had 10 days in total in America. We used our holiday leave from our jobs and funded it individually and through fundraising. Forty-nine of us went. It was terrific fun, the trip of a lifetime. I’d recommend it to any drama group, if it’s at all possible to do it.”
Kilmeen Drama Group’s production of Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman, is a moral thriller. It is set in an unnamed Latin American country that has recently returned to democracy.
Walsh says the play asks serious questions about forgiveness.
“The play is one of the most powerful pieces of writing I’ve ever read. We won the Doonbeg Drama Competition with it in March.”
That win was just the latest chapter in an amazing tale of success that shows no sign of abating.
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