It’s Your line is a recent welcome addition to the Irish Theatre scene. The brain child of Ronan Ward from Cornmill Theatre Group, the blog allows all those involved in amateur drama to contribute ideas, comments and get involved in discussing all things theatrical. Take a look and join in with the discussion. www.itsyourline.com

Heartiest congratulations to all the winners in this year’s MACE All Ireland One Act Finals held in Glor,Ennis.

Open Section
1st Kilmeen Drama Group with Disco Pigs
2nd Prosperous Drama Group with The Man who climbed Pecan Trees
3rd Athlone Little Theatre Group with Two

Confined Section
1st Corofin Drama Group with Whats for Pudding?
2nd Compantas Lir with The Donoghue Sisters
3rd Breffni Players with Brenton v Brenton

MACE Best Actor Award: Irene Kelleher from Kilmeen Drama Group
Overall Performance: Irene Kelleher from Kilmeen

Adjudicator’s awards go to: actor Robert Massey from Prosperous Drama Society and Director TJ Duggan from Prosperous Drama Society

DLI Scholarship goes to: John Dennehy from Bradan Og, Leixlip

Congratulations to those groups who have secured a place at the forthcoming MACE All Ireland One Act Festival. With a diverse programme and a wonderful venue in Glor, the finals promise to be a wonderful weekend. ADA would like to wish all the very best to the finalists, the hosts, Ennis Players and of course our colleague, Anna Walker, adjudicator for the Finals. Let the games begin!
Full details to be found on www.oneactfinals.com

As the one Act Festivals commence, and good luck to all our members who are officiating; good to see that ADA is once again supplying more adjudicators than our colleague organisations in the UK and Ireland; I pose the following two questions:
Which is the most common practice: To adjudicate each play immediately after its performance, or, adjudicate all three, consecutively, at the end of the evening?
And … which is preferable?

Michael Poynor

In the recent deaths of Tomás Mac Anna, Phyliss Ryan and T.P. McKenna,
Irish theatre lost some of the outstanding talent of the older generation. Phyliss
was an exceptional actress over a career of more than sixty years–as recently
as Fair City and the Fiona Shaw Medea -a knowledgeable and sympathetic
director and, though not a member of ADA, a very perceptive adjudicator. She
was deserving of far greater honour than Ireland ever gave her.

The fact that T.P. Mc Kenna is most associated during his early years in Ireland
with the legendary Long Day’s Journey Into Night, directed by Frank Dermody in
1962, during the Abbey Theatre’s ‘exile’ at the Queens, links him conveniently to
Tomás Mac Anna, whose production of Brecht’s The Life of Galileo at the same
venue in 1965, was the other highlight of a rather barren period. Tomás who was
Patron of ADA, was the complete theatre man – actor, director, writer in Irish
and English, and an exemplary adjudicator. As many a scholar and researcher
will know, his was the most erudite voice on the history of the Abbey Theatre and
indeed many other theatres as well: if one needed information on a playwright,
an actor, or the date of a first production, Tomás was the man to go to. If he
didn’t always suffer fools gladly, many struggling and inexperienced groups will
have memories of his advice and support at drama festivals.

To his wife Caroline and his family ADA sends its sympathetic regard.

Pat Burke,
Vice President, ADA.

Welcome to the new site of the Association of Drama Adjudicators. We hope that you enjoy browsing the site, where you will find details of our members. We hope to use this blog to stimulate discussion on all aspects of theatre practice and welcome articles for consideration.

We wish the very best to the competing groups, festival committees and our members in the forthcoming ADCI / DLI One Act Festival Circuit.