Meet the directors

the plays

The draw

2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival programme promises a bumper feast of drama and an action packed fringe festival!

The 2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival, held under the auspices of the Amateur Drama
Council of Ireland (ADCI), will take place from May 8 th to 16 th next in the Dean Crowe
Theatre, Athlone. The nine finalists gathered in Athlone on Sunday 13 April to attend the
official draw for the line-up for the RTÉ All-Ireland final.
Commencing proceedings, the new Festival Director, Mr. Michael McGlone, requested
Mairead Broderick, Secretary of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland (ADCI), to light a
candle as a mark of respect for recent passings including that of her own mother and a former
classmate of his, Rachel O’Connor, formerly of Ballyshannon Drama Society, who won best
actress at the festival last year. In welcoming the groups, Michael mentioned that three
groups, Balally, Bradán and Corofin had been absent from the festival for some years. He
noted that the standard of the plays is very high and that all will no doubt be reviewed under
the watchful eye of this year’s adjudicator Walker Ewart.

Mayor Frankie Kenna, noting the financial support of the festival by the council, stated that there would be a warm Athlone welcome to the groups next month. Drama League of Ireland (DLI) Chairperson, Edward Hayden, commended the steely determination of the groups who have traversed the country in pursuit of a place in the finals.
ADCI Chairperson, Liam Hannaway, commended Mairead Broderick for the critical role she played in ensuring the continued success of the circuit. He noted that the twenty groups that
had started the circuit had faced a difficult journey. He concluded noting that the continued support of the festival by both the national broadcaster, RTÉ, and the national theatre, the Abbey Theatre, is a great accolade to the festival.

The plays in the final include several adaptations for stage, a premiere of an Irish adaptation of a play, two amateur premieres, a farce and a black comedy, and they will surface many emotions for the audience from excitement, laughter, to sadness, shock and despair.

Running order

Opening the 2025 Festival, on Thursday 8th of May, Ballycogley Players, directed by Pat Whelan, return with the farce, ‘Lend Me A Tenor’ by Ken Ludwig. Set in 1934, the play follows the misadventures of a small opera company on the night of their biggest performance.

On Friday 9th of May, Brideview Drama Group, directed by Jack Aherne, return to Athlone to perform ‘The Weir’ by Conor McPherson. This is a haunting play with its roots in Irish folklore.

Bradán Players, directed by Réidín Dunne, take to the stage on Saturday 10th of May, with their production of ‘Little Gem’ by Elaine Murphy. One year can bring extraordinary
change; just ask three generations of North Dublin women who find themselves suddenly facing the unexpected.

Corofin Dramatic Society, directed by John Clancy return to Athlone, and will present the second performance of ‘The Weir’ by Conor McPherson on Sunday 11th of May.

Last year’s winners, Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, take to the stage on Monday 12th of May with ‘The Blackwater Lightship’ by Colm Toibín, adapted for the stage by David Horan. It’s 90s Ireland and HIV/AIDS is still a terminal diagnosis. Can a makeshift
family unit face up to the illness of a young man who has the disease and each other?

On Tuesday 13th of May, Wexford Drama Group will perform ‘Skylight’ written by David Hare, which is a beautiful and biting romance set in 1990s London. A schoolteacher receives an unexpected visit from her former lover. As the
evening progresses, they attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.

Balally Players, return to Athlone on Wednesday 14th of May. Directed by Declan Rudden, they will perform ‘Ulster American’, a black comedy written by David Ireland. An Oscar-winning actor, a director and a playwright meet. The stage is set for success but when they
meet to discuss the play’s challenges and provocations a line is crossed, and their heated discussion quickly escalates into violence.

Bridge Drama, directed by Susan Somers, present a play based on the bestselling book ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon, adapted for the stage by
Simons Stephens on Thursday 15th of May. Christopher Francis Boone is fifteen years old. He embarks on his own
investigation to find the killer of his neighbour’s dead dog, but the truth turns his world upside down.

On Friday 16th of May, Newpoint Players, directed by Sean Treanor, will present Sean’s own adaptation of Joshua Sobol’s 1984 play “Ghetto”. Set in the Jewish ghetto of Vilna, Lithuania, in 1942, and based on diaries written during the darkest days of the holocaust, Ghetto tells of the unlikely flourishing of a theatre at the very time the Nazis began their policy of mass extermination.

Tickets for the festival are on sale from 15 April and can be booked through the Dean Crowe
website or at the theatre box office, phone (090)
6492129. Admission €25 (includes a €2 Booking Fee). Concessions are available.

The Athlone Festival will also have a packed programme of fringe events including two
fringe highlights, the annual Schools Playwright competition and the Athlone Film Festival.
Now in its 12th year the playwright competition attracted entries from TY students from 14
counties. Sponsored again by St Jarlath’s Credit Union the awards ceremony takes place on Tuesday 6th of May.

The Athlone Film Festival, in the IMC on May 3rd, the Bank Holiday Saturday, features seven short films with a panel discussion with Directors/actors afterwards. Expected to sell out, it is preceded on the Friday (2nd May) night with a free networking event,
free reception from 6.30pm, in TUS Athlone showcasing up and coming local and Irish filmmakers with a full screening.
Another free event, the family friendly pop-up market takes place in Connaught Gardens
starts at noon on Sunday May 4th and runs till 4pm. Face painting, Puppets, Food, Bric a Brac.