RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival 2022
A look back
2022 Festival
The 2022 RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival took place at the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone from Thursday 5th May to Friday 13th May 2022, with the Presentation of Awards on Saturday 14th May 2022.
All around the country festivals took place and the nine best plays, all of them multi award winners, arrived in Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone on a level playing pitch to battle it out for the RTÉ All Ireland Title under the watchful eye of the adjudicator Michael Poynor.
For 70 years the people of Athlone have supported the committee and this year is no different. The retailers took part in the Shop Window Display and there were many more activities taking place.
See the finalists and winners below.
Meet the Winners of 2022
Ballyduff Drama Group, Co. Waterford
Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, were crowned RTÉ All Ireland Drama Champions for their performance of ‘Rabbit Hole’ by David Lindsay-Abaire at the Gala Awards ceremony in Athlone’s Radisson Blu Hotel on Saturday May 14th as the curtain came down on the 70th year of the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival. Bunclody/Kilmyshall Drama Group, directed by Kieran Tyrell, who performed ‘The Good Father’ by Christian O’Reilly were placed second and Palace Players, directed by Danny Buckley, who performed ‘Chapatti’ also by Christian O’Reilly were placed third. Find out more: RTÉ ALL IRELAND DRAMA FESTIVAL – About RTÉ (rte.ie)
Watch: The Today Show special report here
Watch: The Nationwide Special Edition here
Listen: the Arena special report here
Huge thanks to RTÉ lyric fm for carrying the daily festival reports.
Meet the Finalists of 2022
Palace Players, Co. Cork
Presented ‘Chapatti’ by Christian O’Reilly, a poignant exploration of the importance of human companionship.
Kilmeen Drama Group, Co. Cork
Presented Tom Murphy’s ‘Conversations on a Homecoming’ which takes us on a journey of self-discovery as friends gather after an absence of 10 years.
Bunclody-Kilmyshall Drama Group, Co. Wexford
Performed another Christian O’Reilly play ‘The Good Father’ on 7 May. The play reveals an unlikely love story following the unexpected consequences of a one night stand.
Prosperous Dramatic Society, Co. Kildare
Returned to the festival to present the chaotic and at times savage comedy ‘God of Carnage’ by Yasmina Reza on 10 May.
Kilrush Drama Group, Co. Wexford
Present the Edinburgh Fringe First Award winning ‘Class’ by Iseult Golden & David Horan on 11 May, an explosive triple confrontation which is both funny and heart-breaking.
Dalkey Players, Co. Dublin
Closed the festival on 13 May. They presented ‘Eurydice’ by Sarah Ruhl, a re-imagination of the classic myth.
Butt Drama Circle, Co. Donegal
Presented ‘An Incident with Dave Cotter’ on May 9. Set against the background of the events of Bloody Sunday, it was written and directed by actor, Shaun Byrne, a member of the award-winning group.
Ballyshannon Drama Society, from Co. Donegal
Performed Arthur Miller’s first major work ‘All My Sons’ on 12 May, an emotional play which has several twists and turns.
Festival 2022 Events Gallery
Schools Playwright 2022
Schools Playwright Awards Athlone’s 2022 Schools Playwright Competition, held in conjunction with the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Fringe and sponsored by the Athlone Credit Union saw Transition Year Students from eight counties compete – Cavan, Galway, Kildare,...
Shop Window 2022
The Shop Window Competition Every year to show support for the festival, businesses in Athlone take part in the Shop Window Competition by dressing up their window to represent the story of one of the plays. It makes Athlone come alive with drama and excitement!...
The Abbey 2022
The Abbey Launch 21st April, 2022Festival Launch Night The 9 finalists, the Athlone Director and committee and ADCI representatives travelled to the Abbey Theatre in Dublin to meet up with RTÉ representatives the Abbey Directors and invited guests to launch the 2022...
The Draw 2022
Draw Results On April 18th The Draw took place in the Dean Crowe Theatre which sees nights assigned to each of the 9 finalists for their play to take place. The results of that draw were as follows: May 5 with Palace Players, Co Cork, who performed the two hander...
Gala Awards 2022
The Gala Awards Night Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, were crowned RTÉ All Ireland Drama Champions for their performance of Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire at the Gala Awards ceremony in Athlone's Radisson Blu Hotel on Saturday May 14th, as the...
Regina Bushell – Director
Dee Forbes – CEO of RTÉ
Paula Dempsey – Adjudicator
THE COMMITTEE
Meet the team that work extremely hard behind the scenes to make this a success.
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